Magnetic resonance imaging scans of the brain revealed that the patients had a smaller total brain volume Selleckchem LXH254 than the control group, which is in line with the recent hypothesis that norepinephrine has a neurotrophic effect. In addition, the patients showed an abnormally small or absent task-evoked pupil dilation. However, we found no substantial differences in cognitive performance or P3 amplitude between the patients and the control participants, with the exception of a temporal-attention deficit in the patients OFF medication. The largely spared neurocognitive function in D beta H-deficient

patients suggests that other neuromodulators have taken over the function of norepinephrine in the brains of these

patients. Neuropsychopharmacology (2011) 36, 1608-1619; doi:10.1038/npp.2011.42; published online 6 April 2011″
“The HIV envelope (Env) protein uses a dense coat of glycans to mask conserved domains and evade host humoral immune responses. The broadly neutralizing Selleck BAY 63-2521 antibody 2G12, which binds a specific cluster of high-mannose glycans on HIV Env, shows that the glycan shield can also serve as a target for neutralizing antibodies. We have described a triple mutant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain that expresses high-mannose glycoproteins that bind to 2G12. When used to immunize rabbits, this yeast elicits antibodies that bind to gp120-associated glycans but fail to neutralize virus. Here we sought to determine the reason for these discordant results. Affinity purification of sera over columns conjugated with three 2G12-reactive yeast glycoproteins showed that these proteins could adsorb 80% of the antibodies that bind to gp120 glycans. Despite binding to monomeric Digestive enzyme gp120, these mannose-specific antibodies failed to bind cell surface-expressed trimeric Env. However, when Env was

expressed in the presence of the mannosidase inhibitor kifunensine to force retention of high-mannose glycans at all sites, the purified antibodies gained the abilities to bind trimeric Env and to strongly and broadly neutralize viruses produced under these conditions. Combined, these data show that the triple mutant yeast strain elicits antibodies that bind to high-mannose glycans presented on the HIV envelope, but only when they are displayed in a manner not found on native Env trimers. This implies that the underlying structure of the protein scaffold used to present the high-mannose glycans may be critical to allow elicitation of antibodies that recognize trimeric Env and neutralize virus.”
“A number of studies suggest a dysregulation of the endogenous cannabinoid system in schizophrenia (SCZ). In the present study, we examined cannabinoid CB1 receptor (CB1R) binding and mRNA expression in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) (Brodmann’s area 46) of SCZ patients and controls, post-mortem.