scholarly journals Feedback synaptic interaction in the dragonfly ocellar retina.

1978 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Klingman ◽  
R L Chappell

The intracellular response of the ocellar nerve dendrite, the second order neuron in the retina of the dragonfly ocellus, has been modified by application of various drugs and a model developed to explain certain features of that response. Curare blocked the response completely. Both picrotoxin and bicuculline eliminated the "off" overshoot. Bicuculline also decreased the size of response and the sensitivity. gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), however, increased the size of response. The evidence indicates the possibility that the receptor transmitter is acetylcholine and is inhibitory to the ocellar nerve dendrite whereas the feedback transmitter from the ocellar nerve dendrite may be GABA and is facilitory to receptor transmitter release. The model of synaptic feedback interaction developed to be consistent with these results has certain important features. It suggests that the feedback transmitter is released in the dark to increase input sensitivity from receptors in response to dim light. This implies that the dark potential of the ocellar nerve dendrite may be determined by a dynamic equilibrium established by synaptic interaction between it and the receptor terminals. Such a system is also well suited to signalling phasic information about changes in level of illumination over a wide range of intensities, a characteristic which appears to be a significant feature of the dragonfly median ocellar response.

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-12
Author(s):  
Fatima Javeria ◽  
Shazma Altaf ◽  
Alishah Zair ◽  
Rana Khalid Iqbal

Schizophrenia is a severe mental disease. The word schizophrenia literally means split mind. There are three major categories of symptoms which include positive, negative and cognitive symptoms. The disease is characterized by symptoms of hallucination, delusions, disorganized thinking and speech. Schizophrenia is related to many other mental and psychological problems like suicide, depression, hallucinations. Including these, it is also a problem for the patient’s family and the caregiver. There is no clear reason for the disease, but with the advances in molecular genetics; certain epigenetic mechanisms are involved in the pathophysiology of the disease. Epigenetic mechanisms that are mainly involved are the DNA methylation, copy number variants. With the advent of GWAS, a wide range of SNPs is found linked with the etiology of schizophrenia. These SNPs serve as ‘hubs’; because these all are integrating with each other in causing of schizophrenia risk. Until recently, there is no treatment available to cure the disease; but anti-psychotics can reduce the disease risk by minimizing its symptoms. Dopamine, serotonin, gamma-aminobutyric acid, are the neurotransmitters which serve as drug targets in the treatment of schizophrenia. Due to the involvement of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, drugs available are already targeting certain genes involved in the etiology of the disease.


Author(s):  
Ida Bagus Agung Yogeswara ◽  
Suppasil Maneerat ◽  
Dietmar Haltrich

Glutamate decarboxylase (L-glutamate-1-carboxylase, GAD; EC 4.1.1.15) is a pyridoxal 5-phosphate-dependent enzyme, which catalyzes the irreversible α-decarboxylation of L-glutamic acid to γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and CO2. The enzyme is widely distributed in eukaryotes as well as prokaryotes, where it – together with its reaction product GABA - fulfils very different physiological functions. The occurrence of gad genes encoding GAD has been shown for many microorganisms, and GABA-producing lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been a focus of research during recent years. A wide range of traditional foods produced by fermentation based on LAB offer the potential of providing new functional food products enriched with GABA that may offer certain health-benefits. Different GAD enzymes and genes from several strains of LAB have been isolated and characterized recently. GABA-producing LAB, biochemical properties of their GAD enzymes, and possible applications are reviewed here.


1964 ◽  
Vol 11 (01) ◽  
pp. 064-074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H Wagner ◽  
William D McLester ◽  
Marion Smith ◽  
K. M Brinkhous

Summary1. The use of several amino acids, glycine, alpha-aminobutyric acid, alanine, beta-alanine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid, as plasma protein precipitants is described.2. A specific procedure is detailed for the preparation of canine antihemophilic factor (AHF, Factor VIII) in which glycine, beta-alanine, and gammaaminobutyric acid serve as the protein precipitants.3. Preliminary results are reported for the precipitation of bovine and human AHF with amino acids.


1966 ◽  
Vol 16 (01/02) ◽  
pp. 198-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
W Straughn ◽  
R. H Wagner

SummaryA simple new procedure is reported for the isolation of canine, bovine, porcine, and human fibrinogen. Two molar β-alanine is used to precipitate fibrinogen from barium sulfate adsorbed plasma. The procedure is characterized by dependability and high yields. The material is 95% to 98% clottable protein but still contains impurities such as plasminogen and fibrin-stabilizing factor. Plasminogen may be removed by adsorption with charcoal. The fibrinogen preparations exhibit marked stability to freezing, lyophilization, and dialysis. Epsilon-amino-n-caproic acid and gamma-aminobutyric acid which were also studied have the property of precipitating proteins from plasma but lack the specificity for fibrinogen found with β-alanine.


Diabetes ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 629-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Taniguchi ◽  
Y. Okada ◽  
H. Seguchi ◽  
C. Shimada ◽  
M. Seki ◽  
...  

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