targeted-toxins

Vetrivelan R, Saper C, Fuller P (2014) Armodafinil-induced wakefulness in animals with ventrolateral preoptic lesions. Nat Sci Sleep 6:57-63. doi: 10.2147/NSS.S53132

Summary: Excessive daytime sleepiness is often treated with modafinil. Armodafinil, the R-isomer of modafinil, has been introduced for clinical use, but little is known about the cellular pathway targeted by these drugs. The authors examined whether armodafinil inhibits the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO). Rats received 200-ng injections of orexin-SAP into the VLPO, followed by administration of armodafinil. Lesioned animals displayed increased wakefulness similar to control animals, indicating that armodafinil and modafinil do not act along the VLPO neurons.

Related Products: Orexin-B-SAP (Cat. #IT-20)

Flak J, Myers B, Solomon M, McKlveen J, Krause E, Herman J (2014) Role of paraventricular nucleus-projecting norepinephrine/epinephrine neurons in acute and chronic stress. Eur J Neurosci 39:1903-1911. doi: 10.1111/ejn.12587

Summary: Chronic stress can cause dysregulation of the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus, resulting in structural and function changes in the neurons involved. There are data indicating that post-stress enhancement of norepinephrine is involved in the processing of chronic stress. In this work the authors investigated the hypothesis that PVN-projecting norepinephrine/epinephrine (NE/E) neurons are necessary for chronic stress-induced drive of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis. Rats received bilateral 8.82 ng injections of anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03) into the PVN. Saporin (Cat. #PR-01) was used as a control. Lesioned animals displayed attenuated peak ACTH, indicating that NE/E neurons are required for ACTH release in the HPA axis during chronic stress.

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

Wheeler D, Wan S, Miller A, Angeli N, Adileh B, Hu W, Holland P (2014) Role of lateral hypothalamus in two aspects of attention in associative learning. Eur J Neurosci 40:2359-2377. doi: 10.1111/ejn.12592

Summary: The lateral hypothalamic (LH) region contains both orexin and melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) neurons. These neurons are unique to the LH but project throughout the brain. In this work the authors examined the role of the LH in specific attentional aspects of associative learning. Rats received unilateral 500 ng injections of orexin-SAP (IT-20) into the LH and were tested in several learning tasks. The lesioned animals displayed impaired behavior that was correlated to the loss of orexin but not MCH neurons.

Related Products: Orexin-B-SAP (Cat. #IT-20)

Shin E, Rogers J, Devoto P, Björklund A, Carta M (2014) Noradrenaline neuron degeneration contributes to motor impairments and development of L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in a rat model of Parkinson’s disease. Exp Neurol 257:25-38. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2014.04.011

Summary: Although Parkinson’s disease is usually associated with loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, post-mortem studies have shown that noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus also degenerate. In this work the authors develop a new Parkinson’s disease model by double lesioning with both 6-OHDA into the striatum and 2.5 μg bilateral injections of anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03) into the lateral ventricles of rats. Double-lesioned animals performed worse on tests evaluating Parkinson’s disease symptoms than those lesioned only with 6-OHDA. The data suggest that Parkinson’s disease symptoms reflect the loss of both dopaminergic and noradrenergic neurons in the midbrain.

Related Products: Anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03)

Jokiaho A, Donovan C, Watts A (2014) The rate of fall of blood glucose determines the necessity of forebrain-projecting catecholaminergic neurons for male rat sympathoadrenal responses. Diabetes 63:2854-2865. doi: 10.2337/db13-1753

Summary: Different sets of glucosensors detect insulin-induced hypoglycemia depending on the onset rate. This detection controls the activation of sympathoadrenal counterregulatory responses (CRRs). Slow onset hypoglycemia, common with insulin therapy, is detected by glucosensors in the portal-mesenteric veins. Fast onset is detected by brain elements. The authors lesioned hindbrain catecholaminergic neurons to determine which set of responses-they interact with. Rats received 42 ng bilateral injections of Anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03) into the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. Mouse IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-18) was used as a control. The data indicate that these neurons are critical for detection of slow-onset insulin-induced hypoglycemia.

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

Arias-Carrión O, Murillo-Rodríguez E (2014) Effects of hypocretin/orexin cell transplantation on narcoleptic-like sleep behavior in rats. PLoS One 9:e95342. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095342

Summary: In this work the authors examined the effect of orexin cell grafts into the lateral hypothalamus (LH) on narcoleptic-like sleep behavior. Rats received bilateral 490-ng injections of orexin-SAP* into the LH. 21 days post-lesion, the animals then received a graft consisting of dissociated cells from a 8-10 day old rat brain. The narcoleptic-like behavior was reduced in animals receiving the graft, indicating that restoration of some orexin levels may help resolve neurodegeneration.

Related Products: Orexin-B-SAP (Cat. #IT-20)

Alvarez P, Green P, Levine J (2014) Role for monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in the induction of chronic muscle pain in the rat. Pain 155:1161-1167. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2014.03.004

Summary: In order to better understand where monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) fits in the chronic pain landscape the authors performed a series of experiments using antisense and mismatch oligodeoxynucleotides against the MCP-1 receptor in rats. Some animals also received 3.2 μg intrathecal injections of IB4-SAP (Cat. #IT-10). IB4-SAP treatment removed water avoidance stress-induced muscle hyperalgesia, as well as preventing stress-induced hyperalgesic priming that is a usual response to administration of MCP-1. The data indicate that MCP-1 takes action through its receptors on IB4+ nociceptors.

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

Ogawa S, Nathan FM, Parhar IS (2014) Habenular kisspeptin modulates fear in the zebrafish. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111(10):3841-3846. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1314184111 PMID: 24567386

Summary: The peptide kisspeptin can be found in several areas of the brain, but its role in regions other than the hypothalamus has not been studied. Zebrafish express kiss1 mRNA which is a conserved ortholog of the mammalian KISSI/KissI making zebrafish a viable model for investigating the role of kisspeptin in various brain systems. Animals received 1 μg of the custom conjugate kiss-SAP (see NK3-SAP, Cat. #IT-63) via an intracranial injection. Blank-SAP (Cat. #IT-21) was used as a control. Reducing Kiss1 immunoreactivity in the habenula and the raphe reduced an invoked fear response, indicating a role for kisspeptin in fear inhibition.

Related Products: NKB-SAP (Cat. #IT-63), Blank-SAP (Cat. #IT-21), Kisspeptin-SAP (Cat. #IT-102)

Sato M, Miyoshi K, Nagao Y, Nishi Y, Ohtsuka M, Nakamura S, Sakurai T, Watanabe S (2014) The combinational use of CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing and targeted toxin technology enables efficient biallelic knockout of the α-1,3-galactosyltransferase gene in porcine embryonic fibroblasts. Xenotransplantation 21:291-300. doi: 10.1111/xen.12089

Summary: Results indicate that a combination of the CRISPR/Cas9 system and targeted toxin technology using IB4-SAP allows efficient enrichment of genome-edited clones, particularly bi-allelic KO clones.

Usage: Cells were trypsinized 3 days after transfection and approximately 80% were incubated for 30 min at 37°C in a solution (25 mcL) containing 0.5–1.0 mcg IB4-SAP.

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

Li AJ, Wang Q, Dinh TT, Powers BR, Ritter S (2014) Stimulation of feeding by three different glucose-sensing mechanisms requires hindbrain catecholamine neurons. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 306(4):R257-R264. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00451.2013

Summary: The glucoregulatory system of the brain requires catecholamine neurons in the hindbrain. he sensory mechanisms and connected circuitry controlling the response to glucose deficit are not well understood. In order to investigate different drugs that stimulate food intake but interfere with cellular glucose metabolism and transport the authors administered 82 ng of anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03) into the paraventricular nucleus as bilateral injections. Saporin (Cat. #PR-01) was used as a control. Lesioned animals did not increase food intake in response to any of the drugs, indicating that stimulation of food intake is activated through a catecholamine-dependent pathway.

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