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A neutral pH fluorescent probe (Rh-Met) based on rhodamine spirolactam is firstly developed according to the modulation strategy of hydrogen bonds on pKa values. The pKa value of Rh-Met was 6.81 (±0.06) and higher than that of other rhodamine spirolactams known. Rh-Met showed a 240-fold enhancement of fluorescence intensity at 585 nm with attenuation of pH values from 9.7 to 3.5. In addition, Rh-Met displayed an excellent selectivity and reversible response to hydrogen ion. And it was successfully employed for imaging endocellular hydrogen ion in mitochondria and lipid droplets. These results suggested that Rh-Met could be a potential tool to assess pH fluctuation in mitochondria and lipid droplets, and would promote many new opportunities for studying the biological effect of pH in living cells.

Dendritic fibromyxolipoma, a rare subtype of lipoma, mainly occurs in the neck, back, and chest wall. Here, we describe the first reported case located in the parotid gland. It happened in a 24-year-old woman with a well-demarcated painless mass. Pathologically, the tumor was characterized by small spindle and stellate cells, an unequal number of mature fat cells, plentiful myxoid stroma, and collagenous fiber bundles. Immunochemistry demonstrated that the tumor cells were positive for vimentin, CD34, Bcl-2, and desmin, but not for keratin, EMA, SMA, or S-100. The tumor was successfully removed without complications. This report will bring to the attention of clinicians the clinical features and differential diagnosis of this unusual tumor.

The effects of the Shuyu capsule on5-HT3ARand5-HT3BRexpression in a rat model of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) depression and on5-HT3ARand5-HT3BRexpression and hippocampal neuron 5-HT3channel current were investigated, to elucidate its mechanism of action against PMS depression. PMS depression model rats were divided into depression and Shuyu- and fluoxetine-treated groups, which were compared to control rats for frontal lobe and hippocampal5-HT3ARand5-HT3BRexpression and behavior. The depressed model rats displayed symptoms of depression, which were reduced in treated and normal control rats. Frontal lobe and hippocampal5-HT3ARand5-HT3BRlevels were significantly higher in the model versus the control group and were significantly lower in the Shuyu group. As compared to control rats, the 5-HT3R channel current in the model group was significantly higher; the 5-HT3R channel current in hippocampal neurons treated with serum from Shuyu group rats was significantly lower than that in those treated with model group serum. Thus, PMS depression may be related to5-HT3ARand5-HT3BRexpression and increased 5-HT3channel current. Shuyu capsules rectified abnormal5-HT3ARand5-HT3BRexpression and 5-HT3channel current changes in a rat model; this finding may provide insight into treating PMS depression.

Objective.We discuss the influence of anger emotional stress upon VEGF/VEGFR2 and its induced PI3K/AKT/mTOR signal pathway.Methods.We created a rat model of induced anger (anger-out and anger-in) emotional response using social isolation and resident-intruder paradigms and assessed changes in hippocampus’ VEGF content, neuroplasticity, and the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.Results.The resident-intruder method successfully generated anger-out and anger-in models that differed significantly in composite aggression score, aggression incubation, open field behavior, sucrose preference, and weight gain. Anger emotional stress decreased synaptic connections and VEGFR2 expression. Anger emotional stress led to abnormal expression of VEGF/VEGFR2 mRNA and protein and disorderly expression of key factors in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signal pathway. Fluoxetine administration ameliorated behavioral abnormalities and damage to hippocampal neurons caused by anger emotional stress, as well as abnormal expression of some proteins in VEGF/VEGFR2 and its induced PI3K/AKT/mTOR signal pathway.Conclusion.This research provides a detailed classification of anger emotion and verifies its influence upon VEGF and the VEGF-induced signaling pathway, thus providing circumstantial evidence of mechanisms by which anger emotion damages neurogenesis. As VEGFR2 can promote neurogenesis and vasculogenesis in the hippocampus and frontal lobe, these results suggest that anger emotional stress can result in decreased neurogenesis.

Background Epidemiological surveys and studies with animal models have established a relationship between maternal stress and affective disorders in their offspring. However, whether maternal depression before pregnancy influences behaviour and related neurobiological mechanisms in the offspring has not been studied. Results A social defeat stress (SDS) maternal rat model was established using the resident-intruder paradigm with female specific pathogen-free Wistar rats and evaluated with behavioural tests. SDS maternal rats showed a significant reduction in sucrose preference and locomotor and exploratory activities after 4 weeks of stress. In the third week of the experiment, a reduction in body weight gain was observed in SDS animals. Sucrose preference, open field, the elevated-plus maze, light–dark box, object recognition, the Morris water maze, and forced swimming tests were performed using the 2-month-old male offspring of the female SDS rats. Offspring subjected to pre-gestational SDS displayed enhanced anxiety-like behaviours, reduced exploratory behaviours, reduced sucrose preference, and atypical despair behaviours. With regard to cognition, the offspring showed significant impairments in the retention phase of the object recognition test, but no effect was observed in the acquisition phase. These animals also showed impairments in recognition memory, as the discrimination index in the Morris water maze test in this group was significantly lower for both 1 h and 24 h memory retention compared to controls. Corticosterone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and monoamine neurotransmitters levels were determined using enzyme immunoassays or radioimmunoassays in plasma, hypothalamus, left hippocampus, and left prefrontal cortex samples from the offspring of the SDS rats. These markers of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis responsiveness and the monoaminergic system were significantly altered in pre-gestationally stressed offspring. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element binding protein (CREB), phosphorylated CREB (pCREB), and serotonin transporter (SERT) protein levels were evaluated using western blotting with right hippocampus and right prefrontal cortex samples. Expression levels of BDNF, pCREB, and SERT in the offspring were also altered in the hippocampus and in the prefrontal cortex; however, there was no effect on CREB. Conclusion We conclude that SDS before pregnancy might induce depressive-like behaviours, cognitive deficits, and neurobiological alterations in the offspring.

The luminescent properties of phosphors are sensitive to their morphologies, particularly to the sizes of phosphor particles. The optimal morphology of the phosphor for the field emission display (FED) is the microsized sphere-like particles. However, less attention has been paid to the phosphors with micron-size controlled particles. In this paper, we reported an improved co-precipitation method to synthesize the red-emitting Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ phosphor with the particle sizes controlled in several microns. The optimum phosphors were obtained at the calcination temperature of 1050 °C and pH=5.5, showing the sphere-like particles with the size distribution from 0.9 μm to 3.1 μm. Compared with the commercial phosphors, such optimum phosphors greatly enhance the cathodoluminescent properties and the corresponding luminescence intensity under the low excitation voltage of 1 kV is increased by 50%. Results indicate an effective way to develop the high-quality FED phosphors.

The aim of this study was to explore the mechanism underlying the antidepression activity of paeoniflorin, the main active ingredient of paeony extract and Shuyu capsules, and determine its effect on the calmodulin/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM/CaMKII) signalling pathway and on the possible target, the voltage-gated calcium channel (Cav). Rats at the nonacceptance stage were selected for premenstrual syndrome (PMS) depression modelling. Behavioural assays were used for model testing. Rats were given Shuyu capsules, paeony extract, and bupleurum. Western blot analysis was used to assess the expression levels of calcium voltage-gated channel subunit alpha 1 C (CACNA1C), brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and CaM/CaMKII signalling pathway proteins. Intracellular Ca2+ concentration in CHO cell line was measured using Fluo-4-AM and whole-cell patch clamps. The PMS depression model was successfully established and demonstrated that Shuyu can mitigate depressive behaviour in a rat PMS model. Paeony extract did not affect CACNA1C protein expression in rat hippocampi but did affect Cav1.2-mediated CaM/CaMKII signalling pathways. Paeoniflorin significantly inhibited KCl-induced increases in intracellular Ca2+ concentration and Cav1.2 current density. Further, it may function via the CaM/CaMKII pathway and its downstream signalling molecules by regulating Cav1.2, thus playing an important role in the treatment and alleviation of affective disorders.

Background Accumulating epidemiological evidence shows that life event stressors are major vulnerability factors for psychiatric diseases such as major depression. It is also well known that the resident intruder paradigm (RIP) results in aggressive behavior in male rats. However, it is not known how resident intruder paradigm-induced aggression affects depressive-like behavior in isolated male rats subjected to chronic mild stress (CMS), which is an animal model of depression. Material and methods Male Wistar rats were divided into 3 groups: non-stressed controls, isolated rats subjected to the CMS protocol, and resident intruder paradigm-exposed rats subjected to the CMS protocol. Results In the sucrose intake test, ingestion of a 1% sucrose solution by rats in the CMS group was significantly lower than in control and CMS+RIP rats after 3 weeks of stress. In the open-field test, CMS rats had significantly lower open-field scores compared to control rats. Furthermore, the total scores given the CMS group were significantly lower than in the CMS+RIP rats. In the forced swimming test (FST), the immobility times of CMS rats were significantly longer than those of the control or CMS+RIP rats. However, no differences were observed between controls and CMS+RIP rats. Conclusions Our data show that aggressive behavior evoked by the resident intruder paradigm could relieve broad-spectrum depressive-like behaviors in isolated adult male rats subjected to CMS.

The effects of the Shuyu capsule on 5-HT3AR and 5-HT3BR expression in a rat model of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) depression and on 5-HT3AR and 5-HT3BR expression and hippocampal neuron 5-HT3 channel current were investigated, to elucidate its mechanism of action against PMS depression. PMS depression model rats were divided into depression and Shuyu- and fluoxetine-treated groups, which were compared to control rats for frontal lobe and hippocampal 5-HT3AR and 5-HT3BR expression and behavior. The depressed model rats displayed symptoms of depression, which were reduced in treated and normal control rats. Frontal lobe and hippocampal 5-HT3AR and 5-HT3BR levels were significantly higher in the model versus the control group and were significantly lower in the Shuyu group. As compared to control rats, the 5-HT3R channel current in the model group was significantly higher; the 5-HT3R channel current in hippocampal neurons treated with serum from Shuyu group rats was significantly lower than that in those treated with model group serum. Thus, PMS depression may be related to 5-HT3AR and 5-HT3BR expression and increased 5-HT3 channel current. Shuyu capsules rectified abnormal 5-HT3AR and 5-HT3BR expression and 5-HT3 channel current changes in a rat model; this finding may provide insight into treating PMS depression.