control-conjugates

Wiley RG (2015) Nociceptive effects of neurotensin(NTS)- and somatostatin(SST)-toxin conjugates applied to the lumbar dorsal horn in rats. Neuroscience 2015 Abstracts 418.11/O12. Society for Neuroscience, Chicago IL.

Summary: Intrathecal injections of NTS or SST have been reported to be anti-nociceptive, and in the case of SST, analgesic in humans. Preliminary experiments in our lab previously showed that lumbar intrathecal injection of the excitatory neuropeptide, NTS, or the inhibitory neuropeptide, SST, conjugated to the ribosome inactivating protein, saporin (sap), produced compulsive scratching/biting of hindquarters resulting in loss of fur and skin. This was thought likely due to pain and/or itching from selective loss of superficial dorsal horn nociceptive inhibitory interneurons expressing NTS receptors. Subsequent experiments using lumbar intrathecal injections of NTS-cholera toxin A chain conjugate resulted in prolonged anti-nociception on hotplate, tail flick and von Frey testing, that was not reversed by naloxone and lasted several days, likely due to sustained activation of the same neurons. The present study sought to determine if the lesions produced by NTS-sap or SST-sap alter nociceptive responses. In the present study, rats, under isoflurane anesthesia, were injected intrathecally using temporarily-placed subarachnoid catheters over the lumbar enlargement with 10 ul of sterile preservative-free normal saline containing either 300-400 ng of NTS-sap, 1 ug of SST-sap or 1 ug blank-sap (control) from Advanced Targeting Systems, San Diego, CA. Catheters were flushed with an additional 10 ul of saline. After post-surgical recovery, the rats were then observed for scratching/biting their hindquarters, nocifensive responses on the hotplate, von Frey mechanical probing of the hindpaws, and on operant thermal escape. 4 of 11 NTS-saporin rats and 5 of 9 SST-saporin rats, but none of 9 blank-saporin rats began scratching within 8-47 days after toxin conjugate injection. Hotplate nocifensive reflex testing at 44.5°C and 47°C showed no significant difference between the groups. Von Frey, operant thermal escape testing and anatomic studies are in progress to further specify the functional effects of the toxin conjugate injections and to identify the dorsal horn neurons being destroyed. The results to date are interpreted as consistent with a possibly unique role for NTS and/or SST receptor-expressing superficial dorsal horn inhibitory interneurons in nociception and/or itch. Excitatory/activating moieties such as cholera toxin A subunit targeted by conjugation to NTS or SST may offer a novel approach to enhance inhibition in nociceptive dorsal horn neurons and to produce analgesia by a non-opioid mechanism.

Related Products: Neurotensin-CTA (Cat. #IT-60), Neurotensin-SAP (Cat. #IT-56), Blank-SAP (Cat. #IT-21), Custom Conjugates

Zoccal DB, Taxini CL, Gargaglioni LH (2015) Control of sympathetic activity by A5 noradrenergic neurons in the in situ rat preparations. Neuroscience 2015 Abstracts 432.16/X11. Society for Neuroscience, Chicago IL.

Summary: The A5 area represents an important noradrenergic neuronal group located in the ventral pons that receives and sends projections to various medullary areas involved in the cardiorespiratory control. Its involvement in the chemoreflex control was previously studied in anesthetized conditions. In the present study, we explored the contribution of A5 noradrenergic neurons in the processing of sympathetic responses to central and peripheral chemoreceptors stimulation using the in situ working heart-brainstem rat preparation. Juvenile male Holztman rats received bilateral microinjections of either IgG-SAP (50nl, n=7) or toxin anti-dopamine beta-hydroxylase-saporin (anti-DβH-SAP, 4.2 ng/50 nl, n=6) in the A5. One week later, in situ preparations were obtained to record the thoracic sympathetic (tSN) and phrenic nerve (PN) activities; and stimulation of peripheral (KCN, 0.05%, 50nL) and central chemoreceptors (7 and 10% CO2 in the perfusate, 5 min) were performed. Baseline tSN activity (12.5±2.0 vs 12.6±2.4 μV), PN burst amplitude (40.7±9.7 vs 44.8 ±19.9 μV) and frequency (13±1 vs 15±2 bpm) and the respiratory-sympathetic coupling pattern were similar between control and A5-lesioned rats. The sympathetic ([[unable to display character: ∆]]tSN: 110±12 vs 58±8 %, P<0.05), but not the phrenic response to peripheral chemoreflex stimulation was marked attenuated in animals with lesion of A5 noradrenergic neurons. As to the central chemoreflex, the tSN response to 7% CO2 tSN: 9.5±1.4 vs 3.9±1.7%, P<0.05), but not to 10% CO2 (16.4±2.9 vs 10.9±1.6%) was lower in A5-lesioned rats in comparison to controls. On the other hand, the PN response to 7 and 10% CO2 were similar between control and A5-lesioned rats. Our data show that the A5 noradrenergic neurons are critical for the full expression of the sympathetic chemoreflex responses, possibly by providing an excitatory drive to the neurons generating sympathetic activity.

Related Products: Anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03), Mouse IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-18)

Pittenger CJ (2015) Modeling Tourette syndrome pathophysiology through targeted manipulation of striatal interneurons. Neuroscience 2015 Abstracts 6.07. Society for Neuroscience, Chicago IL.

Summary: Postmortem studies of Tourette syndrome patients has revealed a reduction in the number of specific striatal interneurons. The authors explored the hypothesis that this neuronal deficit is enough to produce the symptoms of Tourette syndrome in mice. Animals received 90-ng injections of Anti-ChAT-SAP (Cat. #IT-42) into the striatum. Rabbit IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-35) was used as a control. The data suggest that loss of the striatal interneurons is enough to produce some, but not all, of the symptoms caused by Tourette syndrome.

Related Products: Anti-ChAT-SAP (Cat. #IT-42), Rabbit IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-35)

See Also:

• Xu M et al. Targeted ablation of cholinergic interneurons in the dorsolateral striatum produces behavioral manifestations of Tourette syndrome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 112:893-898, 2015.

Pires E, D’Souza R, Needham M, Herr A, Jazaeri A, Li H, Stoler M, Anderson-Knapp K, Thomas T, Mandal A, Gougeon A, Flickinger C, Bruns D, Pollok B, Herr J (2015) Membrane associated cancer-oocyte neoantigen SAS1B/ovastacin is a candidate immunotherapeutic target for uterine tumors. Oncotarget 6:30194-30211. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.4734

Summary: Ovastatin is a zinc matrix metallo-proteinase thought to play roles in sperm-egg interaction and the prevention of polyspermy in eutherians. This protein is not found in normal adult tissues, but is expressed by uterine carcinosarcomas. The authors investigated the possibility of targeting ovastatin as a tumor surface neoantigen for therapeutic purposes. SNU539 cells, a uterine malignant mixed Müllerian tumor-derived cell line, were challenged with 1 μM, 0.1 μM, and 0.01 μM rabbit polyclonal anti-ovastatin coupled to 5.42 nM Fab-ZAP rabbit (Cat. #IT-57). Rabbit IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-35) was used as a control. The results indicate that for this form of uterine cancer, ovastatin is a viable therapeutic target.

Related Products: Fab-ZAP rabbit (Cat. #IT-57), Rabbit IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-35)

Devoto P, Flore G, Saba P, Frau R, Gessa G (2015) Selective inhibition of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase enhances dopamine release from noradrenergic terminals in the medial prefrontal cortex. Brain Behav 5:e00393. doi: 10.1002/brb3.393

Summary: Dopamine-beta-hydroxylase (DBH) is a neuronal enzyme that is a potential target for the treatment of cocaine abuse, alcohol dependence, and eating disorders. Here the authors administered 5 μg of icv Anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03) to rats, and assessed the effect of the dopaminergic lesion on levels of extracellular dopamine. Mouse IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-18) and saporin (Cat. #PR-01) were used as controls. Extracellular levels of dopamine were significantly increased in both lesioned animals and those treated with the DBH inhibitor nepicastat. Clonadine could reverse the nepicastat effect, but not the effect of Anti-DBH-SAP treatement. The data demonstrate a mechanism for the synergistic effect of cocaine on nepicastat-induced dopamine release.

Related Products: Anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03), Mouse IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-18), Saporin (Cat. #PR-01)

Cao Q, Lu J, Li Q, Wang C, Wang X, Lee V, Wang C, Nguyen H, Zheng G, Zhao Y, Alexander S, Wang Y, Harris D (2016) CD103+ dendritic cells elicit CD8+ t cell responses to accelerate kidney injury in adriamycin nephropathy. J Am Soc Nephrol 27:1344-1360. doi: 10.1681/ASN.2015030229

Summary: Although it is known that dendritic cells (DCs) are involved in chronic kidney disease, it is not well understood how they either resolve or aggravate the condition. CD103+ dendritic cells in particular, are known to maintain tolerance through interaction with regulatory T cells, as well as protect against infection through interactions with CD8+ T cells. In this work the authors depleted CD103+ DCs by administering 1 mg/kg of anti-CD103-SAP (Cat. #IT-50) to the intraperitoneal space of mice subject to adriamycin nephropathy. Rat IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-17) was used as a control. Elimination of the CD103+ DCs attenuated the kidney injury, indicating that in murine chronic kidney disease CD103+ DCs are pathogenic rather than therapeutic.

Related Products: Anti-CD103-SAP (Cat. #IT-50), Rat IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-17)

Oyamaguchi A, Abe T, Sugiyo S, Niwa H, Takemura M (2016) Selective elimination of isolectin B4-binding trigeminal neurons enhanced formalin-induced nocifensive behavior in the upper lip of rats and c-Fos expression in the trigeminal subnucleus caudalis. Neurosci Res 103:40-47. doi: 10.1016/j.neures.2015.07.007

Summary: In adult rats non-peptidergic neurons and peptidergic neurons innervate different areas and layers of the lamina. It is thought that these two neuronal populations play different roles in nociceptive processing, but the specific function of each group is not well understood. In order to investigate peptidergic and non-peptidergic neurons in orofacial pain processing the authors injected the cisterna magna of rats with 2.9 μg of rIB4-SAP (Cat. #IT-10). Blank-SAP (Cat. #IT-21) was used as a control. The lesioned animals displayed more frequent face-rubbing responses on the administration of formalin, indicating that IB4-binding neurons in the trigeminal nerve play an anti-nociceptive role in response to this type of pain.

Related Products: IB4-SAP (Cat. #IT-10), Blank-SAP (Cat. #IT-21)

King T, Ruyle B, Kline D, Heesch C, Hasser E (2015) Catecholaminergic neurons projecting to the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus are essential for cardiorespiratory adjustments to hypoxia. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 309:R721-731. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00540.2014

Summary: Catecholaminergic neurons in the brainstem are known to be involved in cardiorespiratory control and to modulate sensory function. Some of the projections from these neurons are to the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), and are involved in cardiorespiratory and neuroendocrine responses to hypoxia. While data have shown the PVN-projecting neurons are activated by hypoxia, their function in this context is not known. In this work the authors bilaterally injected 42 ng of Anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03) into the PVN of rats. Mouse IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-18) was used as control. Respiratory measurements of the lesioned animals indicates that PVN-projecting catecholaminergic neurons are involved in peripheral and central chemoreflex and arterial oxygen levels during exposure to hypoxic stimuli.

Related Products: Anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03), Mouse IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-18)

Akiyama T, Nguyen T, Curtis E, Nishida K, Devireddy J, Delahanty J, Carstens M, Carstens E (2015) A central role for spinal dorsal horn neurons that express neurokinin-1 receptors in chronic itch. Pain 156:1240-1246. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000172

Summary: Chronic itch is caused by increased sensitivity of itch-signaling pathways. It can be generated by normally itchy stimuli (hyperknesis) and by normally non-itchy light touch (alloknesis). The authors used an ovalbumin-induced atopic dermatitis model to study chronic itch in mice. The mice received 400-ng intrathecal injections of Bombesin-SAP (Cat. #IT-40), SSP-SAP (Cat. #IT-11), or the control Blank-SAP (Cat. #IT-21). While Bombesin-SAP significantly attenuated hyperknesis, it had no effect on spontaneous scratching or alloknesis. SSP-SAP reduced all behavioral signs of chronic itch.

Related Products: Bombesin-SAP (Cat. #IT-40), SSP-SAP (Cat. #IT-11), Blank-SAP (Cat. #IT-21)

Bourassa E, Stedenfeld K, Sved A, Speth R (2015) Selective C1 lesioning slightly decreases angiotensin II type I receptor expression in the rat rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM). Neurochem Res 40:2113-2120. doi: 10.1007/s11064-015-1649-3

Summary: Exogenous angiotensin II administered to the RVLM produces a significant pressor response that can be countered by angiotensin II type I receptor antagonists. In this work the authors examined the relative contribution of C1 and non-C1 neurons in the RVLM to this angiotensin II response. Rats received 10 or 15 ng of Anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03) as unilateral injections into the RVLM. Mouse IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-18) was used as control. The data indicate that the majority of angiotensin II type 1 receptors are expressed on non-C1 neurons or glia.

Related Products: Anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03), Mouse IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-18)