MgO Heterostructures: From Synthesis to Applications.

The energy storage capacity of batteries and supercapacitors has seen rising demand and problems as large-scale energy storage systems and electric gadgets have become more widely adopted. With the development of nano-scale materials, the electrodes of these devices have changed dramatically. Heterostructure materials have gained increased interest as next-generation materials due to their unique interfaces, resilient structures and synergistic effects, providing the capacity to improve energy/power outputs and battery longevity. This review focuses on the role of MgO in heterostructured magnetic and energy storage devices and their applications and synthetic strategies. The role of metal oxides in manufacturing heterostructures has received much attention, especially MgO. Heterostructures have stronger interactions between tightly packed interfaces and perform better than single structures. Due to their typical physical and chemical properties, MgO heterostructures have made a breakthrough in energy storage. In perpendicularly magnetized heterostructures, the MgO's thickness significantly affects the magnetic properties, which is good news for the next generation of high-speed magnetic storage devices.

Morphometric and Myelin Basic Protein Expression Changes in Arcuate Nucleus Kisspeptin Neurons Underlie Activation of Hypothalamic Pituitary Gonadal-axis in Monkeys (Macaca Mulatta) during the Breeding Season.

INTRODUCTION: Kisspeptin is involved in the hypothalamic pituitary gonadal-axis' seasonal regulation in rodents and sheep. Studies of kisspeptin signaling in regulating the transition between breeding and nonbreeding seasons have focused on kisspeptin expression, myelin basic protein (MBP) expression around kisspeptin-ir cells, and quantifying the synaptic connections between kisspeptin and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons in various animal models; however, the role of kisspeptin in regulating the seasonal breeding of primates has not been explored yet. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated changes in kisspeptin signaling during breeding and a non-breeding season in a non-human primate model, the rhesus monkey. METHODS: Three adult male monkeys (n = 3) from the breeding season and two monkeys (n = 2) from the non-breeding season were used in this study. After measuring the testicular volume and collecting a single blood sample, all animals were humanely euthanized under controlled conditions, and their hypothalami were collected and processed. Two 20 µm thick hypothalamic sections (mediobasal hypothalamus) from each animal were processed for kisspeptin-MBP and kisspeptin-GnRH immunohistochemistry (IHC). One section from each animal was used as a primary antibody omitted control to check the nonspecific binding in each IHC. RESULTS: Compared to the non-breeding season, plasma testosterone levels and testicular volumes were significantly higher in monkeys during the breeding season. Furthermore, compared to the non-breeding season, increased kisspeptin expression and a higher number of synaptic contacts between kisspeptin fibers and GnRH cell bodies were observed in the arcuate nucleus of the breeding season monkeys. In contrast, enlarged kisspeptin soma and higher MBP expression were observed in non-breeding monkeys. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated enhanced kisspeptin signaling in primate hypothalamus during the breeding season. These findings support the idea that kisspeptin acts as a mediator for the seasonal regulation of the reproductive axis in higher primates.

Overview of schizophrenia research and treatment in Pakistan.

Mental health is the most neglected health sector in Pakistan, and the majority of citizens have limited or no access to primary and secondary psychiatric services. The incidence of schizophrenia (SCZ) has increased at an alarming rate in Pakistan, relative to that of other psychiatric disorders. While numerous studies have investigated SCZ, few have addressed the issue about the Pakistani population. In the present review, the researchers discuss current data integral to the prevalence, pathophysiology, and molecular genetics of SCZ; treatment approaches to the disease; and patient responses to drugs prescribed for SCZ in Pakistan. Most Pakistani patients exhibit poor responses to antipsychotic drugs. Based on our review, the researchers hypothesize that genetic dissimilarities between Pakistani and Western populations contribute to such poor responses. Consequently, an understanding of such genetic differences and the provision of personalized treatment may simultaneously aid in improving SCZ treatment in Pakistan.

Effect of Long-Term Sodium Salicylate Administration on Learning, Memory, and Neurogenesis in the Rat Hippocampus.

Tinnitus is thought to be caused by damage to the auditory and nonauditory system due to exposure to loud noise, aging, or other etiologies. However, at present, the exact neurophysiological basis of chronic tinnitus remains unknown. To explore whether the function of the limbic system is disturbed in tinnitus, the hippocampus was selected, which plays a vital role in learning and memory. The hippocampal function was examined with a learning and memory procedure. For this purpose, sodium salicylate (NaSal) was used to create a rat animal model of tinnitus, evaluated with prepulse inhibition behavior (PPI). The acquisition and retrieval abilities of spatial memory were measured using the Morris water maze (MWM) in NaSal-treated and control animals, followed by observation of c-Fos and delta-FosB protein expression in the hippocampal field by immunohistochemistry. To further identify the neural substrate for memory change in tinnitus, neurogenesis in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus (DG) was compared between the NaSal group and the control group. The results showed that acquisition and retrieval of spatial memory were impaired by NaSal treatment. The expression of c-Fos and delta-FosB protein was also inhibited in NaSal-treated animals. Simultaneously, neurogenesis in the DG was also impaired in tinnitus animals. In general, our data suggest that the hippocampal system (limbic system) may play a key role in tinnitus pathology.

Kisspeptin-10 treatment generated specific GnRH expression in cells differentiated from rhesus monkey derived Lyon NSCs.

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have enormous potential as novel cell-based therapies, but their effectiveness depends on stem cell differentiation and specific signaling regulators, which remain poorly understood. In this study, a kisspeptin peptide (KP-10) was used at different dosages to determine whether rhesus macaque-derived tau GFP-Lyon ES cells underwent kisspeptin-specific neuronal differentiation. It was found that KP-10 exhibited an anti-proliferative effect on the cells and led to morphological changes and cellular differentiation consistent with neuronal stem cell (NSC) development. The cells differentiated into Gonadotrophin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) neuronal-like cell types in response to the KP-10 treatment. There has been a previously observed connection between kisspeptin signaling, GnRH neurons and their dysfunction found in congenital disorders like idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH). Although therapeutics are a still a far-off goal, the formation and development of GnRH-positive neuronal-like cells following the application of KP-10 to Lyon NSC cells opens the door for future NSC-based therapies to treat specific reproductive disorders.

Alzheimer's disease and methanol toxicity (part 2): lessons from four rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) chronically fed methanol.

A recently established link between formaldehyde, a methanol metabolite, and Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology has provided a new impetus to investigate the chronic effects of methanol exposure. This paper expands this investigation to the non-human primate, rhesus macaque, through the chronic feeding of young male monkeys with 3% methanol ad libitum. Variable Spatial Delay Response Tasks of the monkeys found that the methanol feeding led to persistent memory decline in the monkeys that lasted 6 months beyond the feeding regimen. This change coincided with increases in tau protein phosphorylation at residues T181 and S396 in cerebrospinal fluid during feeding as well as with increases in tau phosphorylated aggregates and amyloid plaques in four brain regions postmortem: the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe, and the hippocampus. Tau phosphorylation in cerebrospinal fluid was found to be dependent on methanol feeding status, but phosphorylation changes in the brain were found to be persistent 6 months after the methanol feeding stopped. This suggested the methanol feeding caused long-lasting and persistent pathological changes that were related to AD development in the monkey. Most notably, the presence of amyloid plaque formations in the monkeys highlighted a marked difference in animal systems used in AD investigations, suggesting that the innate defenses in mice against methanol toxicity may have limited previous investigations into AD pathology. Nonetheless, these findings support a growing body of evidence that links methanol and its metabolite formaldehyde to AD pathology.

Establishment and partial characterization of a human tumor cell line, GBM-HSF, from a glioblastoma multiforme.

This paper outlines the establishment of a new and stable cell line, designated GBM-HSF, from a malignant glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) removed from a 65-year-old Chinese woman. This cell line has been grown for 1 year without disruption and has been passaged over 50 times. The cells were adherently cultured in RPMI-1640 media with 10% fetal bovine serum supplementation. Cells displayed spindle and polygonal morphology, and displayed multi-layered growth without evidence of contact inhibition. The cell line had a high growth rate with a doubling time of 51 h. The cells were able to grow without adhering to the culture plates, and 4.5% of the total cells formed colonies in soft agar. The cell line has also been found to form tumors in nude mice and to be of a highly invasive nature. The cells were also partially characterized with RT-PCR. The RT-PCR revealed that Nestin, ß-tubulin III, Map2, Klf4, Oct4, Sox2, Nanog, and CD26 were positively transcribed, whereas GFAP, Rex1, and CD133 were negatively transcribed in this cell line. These results suggest that the GBM-HSF cell line will provide a good model to study the properties of cancer stem cells and metastasis. It will also facilitate more detailed molecular and cellular studies of GBM cell division and pathology.

Blockage of glucocorticoid receptors during memory acquisition, retrieval and reconsolidation prevents the expression of morphine-induced conditioned place preferences in mice.

Association between the reward caused by consuming drugs and the context in which they are consumed is essential in the formation of morphine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP). Glucocorticoid receptor (GRs) activation in different regions of the brain affects reward-based reinforcement and memory processing. A wide array of studies have demonstrated that blockage of GRs in some brain areas can have an effect on reward-related memory; however, to date there have been no systematic studies about the involvement of glucocorticoids (GCs) in morphine-related reward memory. Here, we used the GR antagonist RU38486 to investigate how GRs blockage affects the sensitization and CPP behavior during different phases of reward memory included acquisition, retrieval and reconsolidation. Interestingly, our results showed RU38486 has the ability to impair the acquisition, retrieval and reconsolidation of reward-based memory in CPP and sensitization behavior. But RU38486 by itself cannot induce CPP or conditioned place aversion (CPA) behavior. Our data provide a much more complete picture of the potential effects that glucocorticoids have on the reward memory of different phases and inhibit the sensitization behavior.

Lesion of olfactory epithelium attenuates expression of morphine-induced behavioral sensitization and reinstatement of drug-primed conditioned place preference in mice.

Previous studies have shown that olfactory impairment by disrupting the olfactory epithelium prior to morphine administration attenuated the development addiction-related behaviors. However, it is unclear whether olfactory impairment will affect the expression of already established addiction-related behaviors. To address this issue, mice were conditioned with morphine to induce behavioral sensitization and condition placed preference (CPP). After an abstinence period, the animals were subjected to either an intranasal ZnSO(4) effusion (ZnE) or sham treatment with saline. Behavioral sensitization and CPP reinstatement were evaluated 24h later, as well as the expression of c-Fos protein, a marker of activated neural sites, in brain regions of interest. It was found that ZnE treatment attenuated morphine-induced behavioral sensitization and reinstatement of CPP. Compared to the saline-treated ones, the ZnE-treated animals showed reduced c-Fos expression in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) associated with behavioral sensitization, and in the NAc, cingulate cortex, dentate gyrus, amygdala, lateral hypothalamus and ventral tegmental area associated with CPP reinstatement. Together, these results demonstrated that acute olfactory impairment could attenuate already established addiction-related behaviors and expression of c-Fos in drug addiction related brain regions, perhaps by affecting the coordination between reward and motivational systems in the brain.

Kisspeptin-10 modulates the proliferation and differentiation of the rhesus monkey derived stem cell line: R366.4.

The rhesus monkey embryonic stem cell line R366.4 has been identified to differentiate into a number of cell types. However, it has not been well characterized for its response to drugs affecting reproductive endocrinology. Kisspeptins (KPs) are ligands for the GPR-54, which is known to modulate reproductive function. The current study was designed to determine the effect of the KP-10 peptide on R366.4 cells and to investigate the role of KP-GPR54 in the cell proliferation process. Four different doses (0.1, 1, 10, and 100 nM) of KP-10 and control were selected to evaluate cell growth parameters and cellular morphological changes over a 72 hr period. The cells were treated with kisspeptin-10 during the early rosette stage. Proliferation rates, analyzed by flow cytometry and cell count methods, were found to be decreased after treatment. Moreover, the number of rosettes was found to decrease following KP-10 treatments. Morphological changes consisting of neuronal projections were also witnessed. This suggested that KP-10 had an antiproliferative effect on R366.4 cells leading to a differentiation state and morphological changes consistent with neuronal stem cell development. The R366.4 stem cell line differentiates based on kisspeptin signaling and may be used to investigate reproductive cell endocrinology in vitro.