Representation of Species-Specific Vocalizations in the Inferior Colliculus of the Guinea Pig

2003 ◽  
Vol 90 (6) ◽  
pp. 3794-3808 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Šuta ◽  
Eugen Kvašňák ◽  
Jiří Popelář ◽  
Josef Syka

The responses of individual neurons to 4 typical guinea pig vocalization calls (purr, chutter, chirp, and whistle) were recorded in the inferior colliculus (IC) of anesthetized guinea pigs. All calls elicited a response in about 80% of units. Unit selectivity for individual calls was low, given that a majority of neurons (55% of 124 units) responded to all vocalizations and only a small portion of neurons (3%) responded to only one call or did not respond to any of the calls (3%). In 15% of units, the response to one call was ≥25% stronger than the response to any other sound (tone, noise, and other calls); these neurons were selective for chirp or whistle, and no unit preferred chutter or purr. Neuronal activity provided information about the spectrotemporal patterns of the calls. Peristimulus time histograms (PSTHs) reflected the energy of the near-characteristic frequency band, and the population PSTH reliably matched the sound envelope for calls characterized by one or more short impulses (chirp, purr, and chutter) but did not exactly fit the envelope for whistle—a slow-modulated and relatively long call. Calculations based on firing rates indicated the approximate positions of the main spectral peaks but did not always reflect their relative magnitude. The time-reversed version of whistle elicited on average a weaker response than did the natural whistle (by 24%), but there were neurons with a significantly stronger response to the natural (“forward-selective,” 30%) as well as to the time-reversed whistle (“reverse-selective,” 15%). This study does not prove the existence of units selectively responding to animal calls, but it provides evidence for the encoding of the spectrotemporal acoustic patterns of vocalizations by IC units.

2003 ◽  
Vol 285 (4) ◽  
pp. H1641-H1649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Zicha ◽  
Isaac Moss ◽  
Bruce Allen ◽  
Andras Varro ◽  
Julius Papp ◽  
...  

There are important species-specific differences in K+ current profiles and arrhythmia susceptibility, but interspecies comparisons of K+ channel subunit expression are lacking. We quantified voltage-gated K+ channel (Kv) subunit mRNA and protein in rabbits, guinea pigs, and humans. Kv1.4, Kv4.2, and Kv4.3 mRNA was present in rabbits but undetectable in guinea pigs. MinK mRNA concentration in guinea pigs was almost threefold greater versus humans and 20-fold versus rabbits. MinK protein expression in guinea pigs was almost twofold that in humans and sixfold that in rabbits. KvLQT1 mRNA concentration was greatest in humans, and protein expression in humans was increased by ∼2- and ∼7-fold compared with values in rabbits and guinea pigs, respectively. The ether-a-go-go-related gene (ERG1) mRNA was more concentrated in humans, but ERG1 protein expression could not be compared across species because of epitope sequence differences. We conclude that important interspecies differences in cardiac K+ channel subunit expression exist and may contribute to the following: 1) lack of a transient outward current in the guinea pig (α-subunit transcription absent in the guinea pig heart); 2) small slow delayed rectifier current and torsades de pointes susceptibility in the rabbit (low-level minK expression); and 3) large slow component of the delayed rectifier current in the guinea pig (strong minK expression).


Development ◽  
1958 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-104
Author(s):  
Seymour Katsh ◽  
David W. Bishop

Numerous efforts have demonstrated antibody production after injection of spermatozoa into animals of the same species. For example, Metalnikoff (1900) and Kennedy (1924) reported anti-guinea-pig sperm ‘toxins’ in guinea-pigs; McCartney (1923) noted anti-rat sperm ‘toxins’ in rats; Pfeiffer (1905), Dittler (1920), and Pommerenke (1928) demonstrated anti-rabbit ‘spermatotoxins’ in rabbits. Antibody production against heterologous sperm has also been disclosed: Mudd & Mudd (1929) injected human, guinea-pig, bull, and ram sperm into rabbits and reported that the resultant antibodies were species specific. The absoluteness of specificity, both organ and species, however, has been qualified by the study of Lewis (1934), who found that brain and testicles possess common antigens, and Henle (1938) has extended Mudd & Mudd's (1929) observations on cross-reaction between sperm of closely related species. In the above-mentioned studies the methods for determining antisperm activity of antisera included complement-fixation, sperm-immobilization, agglutination, and precipitin tests.


1988 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 1823-1840 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Schreiner ◽  
G. Langner

1. The topographical distributions of single-unit and multiple-unit responses to amplitude-modulated tones--and to other relevant parameters of simple tonal stimuli--were defined across the main frequency representational gradient and within narrow frequency ranges represented in "frequency band laminae" in the principal midbrain auditory nucleus, the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICC), in adult, barbiturate-anesthetized cats. 2. Responses to amplitude-modulated tones with the carrier set at the characteristic frequency (CF) of recorded neurons were obtained at many ICC locations in each experiment. The best modulation frequency (BMF) of neurons was defined at each site as that modulation frequency producing the highest neural discharge rate. Encountered BMFs ranged from approximately 10 to 1,000 Hz. A significant range of BMFs were recorded for neurons with any given characteristic frequency. BMF ranges varied as a systematic function of CF and of ICC recording depth. 3. Recorded BMFs were distributed topographically within functionally defined ICC frequency band laminae. Highest BMFs were found clustered in an ICC sector roughly between the middle and lateral third of its frequency band laminae. Progressively lower BMFs were recorded with increasing distance across the laminae in any direction away from the highest-BMF cluster. That is, "iso-BMF contours" were arrayed concentrically around the highest-BMF region. 4. Within frequency band laminae centered at approximately 3 and 12 kHz, quality factors (Q10 dBS) of frequency tuning curves were found to be between 0.8 and 8. Q10 dB values were distributed topographically within given frequency band laminae. Responses with narrow tuning curves (high Q10 dB values) were clustered in the middle third of the mediolateral extent of laminae; sharpness of tuning declined systematically away from this focus of highest Q10 dB values. The center of this distribution did not coincide with the center of the BMF distribution within the same lamina. 5. For neurons at greater than 90% of the ICC loci studied in these experiments, onset latencies to CF tones defined approximately 60 dB above response threshold fell within a range between 5 and 18 ms. Across a given frequency band lamina, onset latencies varied systematically, with longest response latencies recorded medially, and progressively shorter latencies recorded progressively more laterally. 6. Binaural interaction types were systematically distributed within frequency-band laminae. A cluster of excitatory-excitatory (EE) was seen, covering approximately one-third of the mapped area.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


1998 ◽  
Vol 275 (1) ◽  
pp. H50-H56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masami Miyamae ◽  
S. Albert Camacho ◽  
Hui-Zhong Zhou ◽  
Ivan Diamond ◽  
Vincent M. Figueredo

We recently discovered that regular alcohol consumption reduces ischemia-reperfusion injury to the same degree as ischemic preconditioning in guinea pig hearts. Ischemic preconditioning, like this cardioprotective effect of alcohol, is mediated by adenosine signaling in guinea pigs. In rats, ischemic preconditioning may be mediated predominantly by α1-adrenergic signaling. To be certain that this protective effect of alcohol is a general biological response, we searched for alcohol’s cardioprotection in rat and identified a potential signaling mechanism. Hearts isolated from alcohol-fed guinea pigs and rats were subjected to ischemia-reperfusion. Hearts from alcohol-fed animals showed greater recovery of left ventricular developed pressure than controls (guinea pigs, 46 vs. 29%; rats, 50 vs. 31%) and decreased myocyte necrosis assessed by creatine kinase release (guinea pigs, 204 ± 42 vs. 440 ± 70 U ⋅ ml−1 ⋅ g dry wt−1; rats 158 ± 13 vs. 328 ± 31 U ⋅ ml−1 ⋅ g dry wt−1). Adenosine receptor blockade [8-( p-sulfophenyl)theophylline] abolished alcohol’s protection in guinea pig but not rat hearts. By contrast, α1-adrenergic blockade (prazosin) abolished alcohol’s protection in rat but not guinea pig hearts. We conclude that regular alcohol consumption reduces ischemia-reperfusion injury and is mediated by species-specific signaling mechanisms. A major goal of cardiovascular research is to find a pharmacologically induced chronic state of preconditioning. Understanding the mechanisms of alcohol’s cardioprotection against ischemia-reperfusion injury may aid in reaching this goal.


Author(s):  
Corazon D. Bucana

In the circulating blood of man and guinea pigs, glycogen occurs primarily in polymorphonuclear neutrophils and platelets. The amount of glycogen in neutrophils increases with time after the cells leave the bone marrow, and the distribution of glycogen in neutrophils changes from an apparently random distribution to large clumps when these cells move out of the circulation to the site of inflammation in the peritoneal cavity. The objective of this study was to further investigate changes in glycogen content and distribution in neutrophils. I chose an intradermal site because it allows study of neutrophils at various stages of extravasation.Initially, osmium ferrocyanide and osmium ferricyanide were used to fix glycogen in the neutrophils for ultrastructural studies. My findings confirmed previous reports that showed that glycogen is well preserved by both these fixatives and that osmium ferricyanide protects glycogen from solubilization by uranyl acetate.I found that osmium ferrocyanide similarly protected glycogen. My studies showed, however, that the electron density of mitochondria and other cytoplasmic organelles was lower in samples fixed with osmium ferrocyanide than in samples fixed with osmium ferricyanide.


1976 ◽  
Vol 36 (02) ◽  
pp. 401-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Buichi Fujttani ◽  
Toshimichi Tsuboi ◽  
Kazuko Takeno ◽  
Kouichi Yoshida ◽  
Masanao Shimizu

SummaryThe differences among human, rabbit and guinea-pig platelet adhesiveness as for inhibitions by adenosine, dipyridamole, chlorpromazine and acetylsalicylic acid are described, and the influence of measurement conditions on platelet adhesiveness is also reported. Platelet adhesiveness of human and animal species decreased with an increase of heparin concentrations and an increase of flow rate of blood passing through a glass bead column. Human and rabbit platelet adhesiveness was inhibited in vitro by adenosine, dipyridamole and chlorpromazine, but not by acetylsalicylic acid. On the other hand, guinea-pig platelet adhesiveness was inhibited by the four drugs including acetylsalicylic acid. In in vivo study, adenosine, dipyridamole and chlorpromazine inhibited platelet adhesiveness in rabbits and guinea-pigs. Acetylsalicylic acid showed the inhibitory effect in guinea-pigs, but not in rabbits.


1963 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Ekholm ◽  
T. Zelander ◽  
P.-S. Agrell

ABSTRACT Guinea pigs, kept on a iodine-sufficient diet, were injected with Na131I and the thyroids excised from 45 seconds to 5 days later. The thyroid tissue was homogenized and separated into a combined nuclear-mitochondrial-microsomal fraction and a supernatant fraction by centrifugation at 140 000 g for one hour. Protein bound 131iodine (PB131I) and free 131iodide were determined in the fractions and the PB131I was analysed for monoiodotyrosine (MIT), diiodotyrosine (DIT) and thyroxine after hydrolysis of PB131I. As early as only 20 minutes after the Na131I-injection almost 100% of the particulate fraction 131I was protein bound. In the supernatant fraction the protein binding was somewhat less rapid and PB131I values above 90% of total supernatant 131I were not found until 3 hours after the injection. In all experiments the total amount of PB131I was higher in the supernatant than in the corresponding particulate fraction. The ratio between supernatant PB131I and pellet PB131I was lower in experiments up to 3 minutes and from 2 to 5 days than in experiments of 6 minutes to 20 hours. Hydrolysis of PB131I yielded, even in the shortest experiments, both MIT and DIT. The DIT/MIT ratio was lower in the experiments up to 2 hours than in those of 3 hours and over.


1965 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 1091-1093 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred Richtarik ◽  
Thomas A. Woolsey ◽  
Enrique Valdivia

A device for use in recording ECG's from guinea pigs is described. It is constructed of Plexiglas and consists of a base with four electrodes (separated by plastic ridges) on which the animal stands. The animal's activity is restricted by a removable box, the ends and top of which are adjustable to compensate for variations in animal size. The device permits recording of ECG's in rapid succession from quiet, unanesthetized animals in normal standing posture. Results obtained with the method are reported. apparatus for guinea pig ECG; time relations guinea pig ECG; normal ECG, guinea pig; factors affecting quality of ECG recordings from guinea pigs Submitted on October 21, 1964


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yifang Yang ◽  
Junshu Wu ◽  
Defu Wu ◽  
Qi Wei ◽  
Tan Zhong ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The use of ocular hypotensive drugs has been reported to attenuate myopia progression. This study explores whether brimonidine can slow myopia progression in the guinea pig form-deprivation (FD) model. Methods Three-week-old pigmented male guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) underwent monocular FD and were treated with 3 different methods of brimonidine administration (eye drops, subconjunctival or intravitreal injections). Four different concentrations of brimonidine were tested for intravitreal injection (2 μg/μL, 4 μg/μL, 20 μg/μL, 40 μg/μL). All treatments continued for a period of 21 days. Tonometry, retinoscopy, and A-scan ultrasonography were used to monitor intraocular pressure (IOP), refractive error and axial length (AL), respectively. On day 21, guinea pigs were sacrificed for RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to screen for associated transcriptomic changes. Results The myopia model was successfully established in FD animals (control eye vs. FD eye, respectively: refraction at day 20, 0.97 ± 0.18 D vs. − 0.13 ± 0.38 D, F = 6.921, P = 0.02; AL difference between day 0 and day 21, 0.29 ± 0.04 mm vs. 0.45 ± 0.03 mm, F = 11.655, P = 0.004). Among the 3 different brimonidine administration methods, intravitreal injection was the most effective in slowing myopia progression, and 4 μg/μL was the most effective among the four different concentrations of brimonidine intravitreal injection tested. The AL and the refraction of the brimonidine intravitreal injection group was significantly shorter or more hyperopic than those of other 2 groups. Four μg/μL produced the smallest difference in AL and spherical equivalent difference values. FD treatment significantly increased the IOP. IOP was significantly lower at 1 day after intravitreal injections which was the lowest in FD eye of intravitreal injection of brimonidine. At day 21, gene expression analyses using RNA-seq showed upregulation of Col1a1 and Mmp2 expression levels by intravitreal brimonidine. Conclusions Among the 3 different administration methods, intravitreal injection of brimonidine was the most effective in slowing myopia progression in the FD guinea pig model. Intravitreal brimonidine at 4 μg/μL significantly reduced the development of FD myopia in guinea pigs. Expression levels of the Col1a1 and Mmp2 genes were significantly increased in the retinal tissues of the FD-Inj-Br group.


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