2012 Targeting Trends Review

Lowrance S, Matchynski J, Rossignol J, Dekorver N, Sandstrom M, Dunbar G (2012) CXB-909 attenuates cognitive deficits in the mu-p-75 saporin mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Neuroscience & Medicine 3(1):65-68. doi: 10.4236/nm.2012.31010

Summary: CXB-909 is a small molecule NGF amplifier that has been shown to enhance neurite outgrowth in various neuronal cell lines. This type of molecule has potential therapeutic use in disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. In this work the authors lesioned cholinergic cells in the basal forebrain of mice with bilateral 0.8 μg intracerebroventricular injections of mup75-SAP (Cat. #IT-16). Lesioned animals performed significantly worse than controls in a water maze task. Lesioned animals subsequently treated with CXB-909 displayed improved performance, indicating that CXB-909 can attenuate memory deficits caused by loss of cholinergic input.

Related Products: mu p75-SAP (Cat. #IT-16)

Hawryluk JM, Ferrari LL, Keating SA, Arrigoni E (2012) Adenosine inhibits glutamatergic input to basal forebrain cholinergic neurons. J Neurophysiol 107(10):2769-2781. doi: 10.1152/jn.00528.2011 PMID: 22357797

Summary: Using patch-clamp recordings from mouse brain slices the authors demonstrate that adenosine not only directly inhibits cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain, it also reduces excitatory inputs to these neurons as well. Cy3-anti-mu p75 (Cat. #FL-05, 40-60 ng) was injected into the lateral cerebroventricle.

Related Products: NGFr (mu p75) Rabbit Polyclonal, affinity-purified Cy3-labeled (Cat. #AB-N01APFL3)

Kanju PM, Parameshwaran K, Sims-Robinson C, Uthayathas S, Josephson EM, Rajakumar N, Dhanasekaran M, Suppiramaniam V (2012) Selective cholinergic depletion in medial septum leads to impaired long term potentiation and glutamatergic synaptic currents in the hippocampus. PLoS One 7(2):e31073. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0031073

Summary: Long term potentiation (LTP) is dependent on excitatory neurotransmission in the hippocampus, which plays a major role in learning and memory. The authors examine whether cholinergic lesions in the medial septum result in LTP alteration or affect synaptic glutamate receptor subtypes. After bilateral administration of 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01, 50 ng per injection) into the medial septum of rats, hippocampal slices were made and the LTP of the slices was measured. The data show modulation of medial septal LTP and hippocampal glutaminergic currents by cholinergic afferents.

Related Products: 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01)

Han N, Zu JY, Chai J (2012) Spinal bombesin-recognized neurones mediate more nonhistaminergic than histaminergic sensation of itch in mice. Clin Exp Dermatol 37(3):290-295. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2230.2011.04314.x

Summary: The authors administered 400 ng of Bombesin-SAP (Cat. #IT-40) to the lumbar spinal subarachnoid space of rats and evaluated the distribution of Fos-positive cells in the dorsal horn after stimulation. Saporin (Cat. #PR-01) was used as a control. The results demonstrate that the neurons eliminated by Bombesin-SAP are critical to both acute and chronic itch pathways, although they have more effect on nonhistaminergic sensation.

Related Products: Bombesin-SAP (Cat. #IT-40), Saporin (Cat. #PR-01)

Selbo PK, Weyergang A, Eng MS, Bostad M, Maelandsmo GM, Hogset A, Berg K (2012) Strongly amphiphilic photosensitizers are not substrates of the cancer stem cell marker ABCG2 and provides specific and efficient light-triggered drug delivery of an EGFR-targeted cytotoxic drug. J Control Release 159(2):197-203. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2012.02.003

Summary: Many anti-cancer drugs are substrates of the ATP-binding cassette transporter ABCG2. Unfortunately ABCG2 is also thought to play an important role in multi-drug resistance and the protection of cancer stem cells against chemotherapeutics and photodynamic therapy. This paper examined whether photosensitizers used in photochemical internalization (PCI) are substrates for ABCG2. Streptavidin-ZAP (Cat. #IT-27) was combined with biotinylated EGF and applied to cells in culture; saporin (Cat. #PR-01) was used as a control. The data show that PCI with the EGF-saporin toxin did not utilize ABCG2 to enter cells.

Related Products: Streptavidin-ZAP (Cat. #IT-27), Saporin (Cat. #PR-01)

Gibbons DD, Southerland EM, Hoover DB, Beaumont E, Armour JA, Ardell JL (2012) Neuromodulation targets intrinsic cardiac neurons to attenuate neuronally mediated atrial arrhythmias. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 302(3):R357-R364. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00535.2011 PMID: 22088304

Summary: Cardiac arrhythmias can be generated by excessive activation of specific inputs to the intrinsic cardiac nervous system. The authors sought to determine whether subpopulations of neurons were responsible for this activation, and therefore potential therapeutic targets. A series of studies were done following electrical stimuli to the mediastinal nerves. Choline acetyltransferase levels were assessed using anti-ChAT (Cat. #AB-N34) in immunohistochemistry. The data suggest activation of certain neurons by mediastinal nerve stimulation results in atrial arrhythmias leading to atrial fibrillation.

Related Products: Choline Acetyltransferase Rabbit Polyclonal (Cat. #AB-N34)

Choi JI, Koehrn FJ, Sorkin LS (2012) Carrageenan induced phosphorylation of Akt is dependent on neurokinin-1 expressing neurons in the superficial dorsal horn. Mol Pain 8(1):4. doi: 10.1186/1744-8069-8-4 PMID: 22243518

Summary: In this work the authors administered 100 ng SSP-SAP (Cat. #IT-11) into the intrathecal space of rats (saporin, Cat. #PR-01, was used as a control). Lesioned animals displayed decreased carrageenan-induced mechanical allodynia, and carrageenan-induced phosphorylation of Akt was blocked throughout the spinal cord gray matter. Anti-NK-1 (Cat. #AB-N33AP) was used for immunohistochemistry.

Related Products: SSP-SAP (Cat. #IT-11), Saporin (Cat. #PR-01), NK-1 Receptor Rabbit Polyclonal, affinity-purified (Cat. #AB-N33AP)

Tolner EA, Sheikh A, Yukin AY, Kaila K, Kanold PO (2012) Subplate neurons promote spindle bursts and thalamocortical patterning in the neonatal rat somatosensory cortex. J Neurosci 32(2):692-702. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1538-11.2012

Summary: Immature cortices in both human and rat have spontaneous activity associated with the maturation of cortical synapses and neuronal circuits. In order to investigate what cells are controlling these events the authors administered 400 ng of 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01) to the S1 cortex hindlimb/forelimb area of rats. mu p75-SAP (Cat. #IT-16) and mouse-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-18) were used as controls. This lesion eliminates subplate neurons which results in a significant loss of evoked spindle burst activity.

Related Products: 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01), mu p75-SAP (Cat. #IT-16), Mouse IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-18)

Cai L, Gibbs RB, Johnson DA (2012) Recognition of novel objects and their location in rats with selective cholinergic lesion of the medial septum. Neurosci Lett 506(2):261-265. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2011.11.019

Summary: This work examined object recognition and object location recognition as specific components of memory. Rats received 0.22 μg of 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01) infused into the medial septum followed by testing in novel object recognition (NOR) and object location recognition (OLR) models. Substantial decreases in choline acetyltransferase activity in the hippocampus and frontal cortex produced no difference in NOR but caused a significant impairment in OLR – highlighting the role that septo-hippocampal cholinergic projections play in OLR.

Related Products: 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01), Mouse IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-18)

Taxini CL, Takakura AC, Gargaglioni LH, Moreira TS (2011) Control of the central chemoreflex by A5 noradrenergic neurons in rats. Neuroscience 199:177-186. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.09.068

Summary: The A5 group of noradrenergic neurons in the ventrolateral pons is involved in the control of sympathetic and respiratory networks. Using anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03) the authors eliminated TH+ neurons in order to clarify which aspects of respiration are modulated by A5 neurons. Rats received bilateral 4.2-ng injections of the toxin into the A5 region. The results suggest that A5 noradrenergic neurons are involved in control of mean arterial pressure, splanchnic sympathetic nerve activity, and phrenic nerve activity.

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