We demonstrate the existence of hysteresis, implying that once IC-mediated autoimmune inflammation is triggered, its long-term suppression may be difficult to achieve. Our results can serve to guide the development of novel therapies to autoimmune diseases involving this type of inflammation. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Voltage-gated sodium channel alpha-subunit (Nay) is the major determinant of neuronal electrophysiological characters. In order to compare

the composition of Nays among neurochemically different neurons in the rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG), we examined the expression of Nay transcripts in four non-overlapping neuronal populations, with (+) or without (-) N52 immunoreactivity, a marker of neurons with myelinated axons, and TrkA mRNA identified Tucidinostat research buy by in situ hybridization

histochemistry. Both N52-/TrkA+ and N52-/TrkA- populations had high levels of signals for Nav1.7. Nav1.8, and Nav1.9 mRNAs, but rarely expressed Nav1.1 or Nav1.6. There was no significant difference in these signals, suggesting that C-fiber peptidergic and non-peptidergic find more neurons have similar electrophysiological characters with regard to sodium currents. N52+/TrkA+ neurons (putative A-fiber nociceptors) had similar high levels of signals for Nav1.7 and Nav1.8, but a significantly lower level of Nav1.9 signals, as compared to N52 neurons. Although, almost no N52+/TrkA- neurons had Nav1.8 or Nav1.9, half of this population expressed Nav1.7 at similar levels to other three populations and the other half completely lacked this channel. These data suggest that Nav1.8 is a common channel for both C- and A-fiber nociceptors, and Nav1.9 is rather selective for C-fiber nociceptors. Nav1.7 is the most universal channel while some functionally unknown N52+/TrkA- subpopulation selectively lacks it. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd selleck chemicals and the Japan Neuroscience Society. All rights reserved.”
“Rorqual whales (Balaenopteridae) obtain their food by lunge feeding, a dynamic

process that involves the intermittent engulfment and filtering of large amounts of water and prey. During a lunge, whales accelerate to high speed and open their mouth wide, thereby exposing a highly distensible buccal cavity to the flow and facilitating its inflation. Unsteady hydrodynamic models suggest that the muscles associated with the ventral groove blubber undergo eccentric contraction in order to stiffen and control the inflation of the buccal cavity; in doing so the engulfed water mass is accelerated forward as the whale’s body slows down. Although the basic mechanics of lunge feeding are relatively well known, the scaling of this process remains poorly understood, particularly with regards to its duration (from mouth opening to closure).