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Palmitoylation of δ-catenin is critical to synapse plasticity and memory formation. We found that δ-catenin palmitoylation is also instrumental in the development of neuropathic pain. The abundances of palmitoylated δ-catenin and the palmitoyl acyltransferase DHHC3 were increased in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) sensory neurons in rat models of neuropathic pain. Inhibiting palmitoyl acyltransferases or decreasing δ-catenin abundance in the DRG by intrathecal injection of 2-bromopalmitate or shRNA, respectively, alleviated oxaliplatin or nerve injury-induced neuropathic pain in the rats. The palmitoylation of δ-catenin, which was induced by the inflammatory cytokine TNF-α, facilitated its interaction with the voltage-gated sodium channel Nav1.6 and the kinesin motor protein KIF3A, which promoted the trafficking of Nav1.6 to the plasma membrane in DRG neurons and contributed to mechanical hypersensitivity and allodynia in rats. These findings suggest that a palmitoylation-mediated KIF3A/δ-catenin/Nav1.6 complex enhances the transmission of mechanical and nociceptive signals; thus, blocking this mechanism may be therapeutic in patients with neuropathic pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the research project entitled ‘Data Collection and Decision Support System for Hydropower Dam Construction’ sponsored by the National Development and Reform Commission of China, this paper puts forward a multilayer architecture and a support system for the knowledge portal utilizing web services and J2EE while offering a method for integrating existing resources. The purpose for this system is to help the China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) manage the construction of a large-scale hydropower dam. Through the interoperability in distributed environment, software integration technology and heterogeneous system integration, the interoperability of heterogeneous systems is realized by the enterprise application integration (EAI). In this project, an open and unified integration environment is provided by the analytic system (AS), making it possible for all kinds of software resources to be made readily accessible. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinically, chronic pain and depression often coexist in multiple diseases and reciprocally reinforce each other, which greatly escalates the difficulty of treatment. The neural circuit mechanism underlying the chronic pain/depression comorbidity remains unclear. The present study reports that two distinct subregions in the paraventricular thalamus (PVT) play different roles in this pathological process. In the first subregion PVT posterior (PVP), glutamatergic neurons (PVP Glu ) send signals to GABAergic neurons (VLPAG GABA ) in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (VLPAG), which mediates painful behavior in comorbidity. Meanwhile, in another subregion PVT anterior (PVA), glutamatergic neurons (PVA Glu ) send signals to the nucleus accumbens D1-positive neurons and D2-positive neurons (NAc D1→D2 ), which is involved in depression-like behavior in comorbidity. This study demonstrates that the distinct thalamo-subcortical circuits PVP Glu →VLPAG GABA and PVA Glu →NAc D1→D2 mediated painful behavior and depression-like behavior following spared nerve injury (SNI), respectively, which provides the circuit-based potential targets for preventing and treating comorbidity., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The association between rewarding and drug-related memory is a leading factor for the formation of addiction, yet the neural circuits underlying the association remain unclear. Here, we showed that the interstitial nucleus of the posterior limb of the anterior commissure (IPAC) integrated rewarding and environmental memory information by two different receiving projections from ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens shell region (NAcSh) to mediate the acquisition of morphine conditioned place preference (CPP). A projection from the VTA GABAergic neurons (VTA GABA ) to the IPAC lateral region GABAergic neurons (IPACL GABA ) mediated the effect of morphine rewarding, whereas the pathway from NAcSh dopamine receptor 1-expressing neurons (NAcSh D1 ) to the IPAC medial region GABAergic neurons (IPACM GABA ) was involved in the acquisition of environmental memory. These findings demonstrated that the distinct IPAC circuits VTA GABA → IPACL GABA and NAcSh D1R → IPACM GABA were attributable to the rewarding and environmental memory during the acquisition of morphine CPP, respectively, and provided the circuit-based potential targets for preventing and treating opioid addiction.

Striatal neurons can be either projection neurons or interneurons, with each type exhibiting distinct susceptibility to various types of brain damage. In this study, 6-hydroxydopamine was injected into the right medial forebrain bundle to induce dopamine depletion, and/or ibotenic acid was injected into the M1 cortex to induce motor cortex lesions. Immunohistochemistry and western blot assay showed that dopaminergic depletion results in significant loss of striatal projection neurons marked by dopamine- and cyclic adenosine monophosphate-regulated phosphoprotein, molecular weight 32 kDa, calbindin, and μ-opioid receptor, while cortical lesions reversed these pathological changes. After dopaminergic deletion, the number of neuropeptide Y-positive striatal interneurons markedly increased, which was also inhibited by cortical lesioning. No noticeable change in the number of parvalbumin-positive interneurons was found in 6-hydroxydopamine-treated rats. Striatal projection neurons and interneurons show different susceptibility to dopaminergic depletion. Further, cortical lesions inhibit striatal dysfunction and damage induced by 6-hydroxydopamine, which provides a new possibility for clinical treatment of Parkinson's disease., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: None declared.