In mice, permanent MCAO resulted in a selective cortical infarct. No changes in SUMOylation occurred at 6 h but there was increased SUMO-1 conjugation in the cortical infarct and non-ischemic hippocampus at 24 h after MCAO. Interestingly, SUMOylation by SUMO-2/3 occurred only outside the infarct area. In both rat and mouse levels of KARs were only

decreased in the infarct regions whereas AMPARs Selleck Lapatinib were decreased in the infarct and in other brain areas. These results suggest that posttranslational modification by SUMO and down-regulation of AMPARs and KARs may play important roles in the pathophysiological response to ischemia. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“The (-938C > A) polymorphism in the promoter region of the BCL-2 gene was recently associated with inferior time to treatment and overall survival in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients displaying the-938A/A genotype and may thus serve as an unfavorable genetic marker in CLL. Furthermore, the-938A/A genotype was associated with increased expression of Bcl-2. To click here investigate this further, we analyzed the-938 genotypes of the BCL-2 gene in 268 CLL patients and correlated data with treatment status, overall survival and known prognostic factors, for example, Binet stage, immunoglobulin heavy-chain

variable (IGHV) mutational status and CD38 expression. In contrast to the recent report, the current cohort because of CLL patients showed no differences either in time to treatment or overall survival in relation to usage of a particular genotype. In addition, no correlation was evident between the (-938C > A) genotypes and IGHV mutational status, Binet stage or CD38. Furthermore, the polymorphism did not appear to affect the Bcl-2 expression at the RNA level. Taken together, our data do not support the use of the (-938C > A) BCL-2 polymorphism as a prognostic marker in CLL and argue against its postulated role in modulating Bcl-2 levels.”
“Granule cells of the dentate gyrus in the hippocampus generally fire at low frequencies but are known to respond to sensory cues by increasing their rate

of firing. We have previously shown that a burst of action potentials in synaptically isolated granule cells can induce a long-term depolarisation (LTDepol) of the neuronal membrane potential. This form of excitability plasticity could be an important mechanism for learning and memory. Here we demonstrate that this depolarisation can be reversed by physiologically relevant firing patterns. At a basal action potential frequency of 0.1 Hz the membrane potential depolarises in response to brief high frequency stimulation (HFS) but this depolarisation is blocked or reversed by 1 Hz action potential firing. The depolarisation of the neurones did not, however, affect the input-output function of the dentate gyrus measured by field or single cell recordings.