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Université de Fribourg

Ectopic fat storage in heart, blood vessels and kidneys in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases

Montani, Jean-Pierre ; Carroll, Joan F. ; Dwyer, Terry M. ; Antic, Vladan ; Yang, Zhihong ; Dulloo, Abdul G.

In: International Journal of Obesity, 2004, vol. 28, p. S58-65

In humans and most animal models, the development of obesity leads not only to increased fat depots in classical adipose tissue locations but also to significant lipid deposits within and around other tissues and organs, a phenomenon known as ectopic fat storage. The purpose of this review is to explore the possible locations of ectopic fat in key target-organs of cardiovascular control (heart,...

Université de Fribourg

Thrombin Stimulates Human Endothelial Arginase Enzymatic Activity via RhoA/ROCK Pathway

Ming, Xiu-Fen ; Barandier, Christine ; Viswambharan, Hema ; Kwak, Brenda R. ; Mach, François ; Mazzolai, Lucia ; Hayoz, Daniel ; Ruffieux, Jean ; Rusconi, Sandro ; Montani, Jean-Pierre ; Yang, Zhihong

In: Circulation, 2004, vol. 110, p. 3708-3714

Background— Arginase competes with endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) for the substrate L-arginine and decreases NO production. This study investigated regulatory mechanisms of arginase activity in endothelial cells and its role in atherosclerosis. Methods and Results— In human endothelial cells isolated from umbilical veins, thrombin concentration- and time-dependently stimulated...

Université de Fribourg

About the morphological relationships of the sarcoplasmic reticulum in the sole plate area of the frog

Voigt, Tilman ; Dauber, Wolfgang

In: Tissue and Cell, 2004, vol. 36, no. 4, p. 249-252

In the present investigation the sole plate area of motor end plates of the frog is ultrastructurally examined with different postfixation methods. We concentrated in this case on the proof of the smooth and rough sarcoplasmic reticulum of the sole plate. The relations of the smooth and rough sarcoplasmic reticulum to subsynaptic folds and the local T-system and its connections to diads and...

Université de Fribourg

Progressive plastic changes in the hand representation of the primary motor cortex parallel incomplete recovery from a unilateral section of the corticospinal tract at cervical level in monkeys

Schmidlin, Eric ; Wannier, Thierry ; Bloch, Jocelyne ; Rouiller, Eric M.

In: Brain Research, 2004, vol. 1017, p. 172-182

After a sub-total hemisection of the cervical cord at level C7/C8 in monkeys, a paralysis of the homolateral hand is rapidly followed by an incomplete recovery of manual dexterity, reaching a plateau after about 40–50 days, whose extent appears related to the size of the lesion. During a few days after the lesion, the hand representation in the contralateral motor cortex disappeared, replaced...

Université de Fribourg

Matching the neural adaptation in the rat ventral cochlear nucleus produced by artificial (electric) and acoustic stimulation of the cochlea

Loquet, Gérard ; Pelizzone, Marco ; Valentini, Gregory ; Rouiller, Eric M.

In: Audiology and Neuro-Otology, 2004, vol. 9, p. 144-159

To investigate neural adaptive properties, near-field evoked potentials were recorded from a chronically implanted electrode in the ventral cochlear nucleus in awake Long-Evans rats exposed to acoustic stimuli or receiving intracochlear electric stimulation. Stimuli were 250-ms trains of repetitive acoustic clicks (10, 30 and 50 dB SPL) or biphasic electric pulses (30, 50 and 70 µA) with...

Université de Fribourg

Acyl-CoA-binding protein, Acb1p, is required for normal vacuole function and ceramide synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Faergeman, Nils J. ; Feddersen, Søren ; Christiansen, Janne K. ; Larsen, Morten K. ; Schneiter, Roger ; Ungermann, Christian ; Mutenda, Kudzai ; Roepstroff, Peter ; Knudsen, Jens

In: Biochemical Journal, 2004, vol. 380, p. 907-918

In the present study, we show that depletion of acyl-CoA-binding protein, Acb1p, in yeast affects ceramide levels, protein trafficking, vacuole fusion and structure. Vacuoles in Acb1p-depleted cells are multi-lobed, contain significantly less of the SNAREs (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein attachment protein receptors) Nyv1p, Vam3p and Vti1p, and are unable to fuse in vitro. Mass...

Université de Fribourg

Adaptive thermogenesis and uncoupling proteins: a reappraisal of their roles in fat metabolism and energy balance

Dulloo, Abdul G. ; Seydoux, Josiane ; Jacquet, Jean

In: Physiology & Behavior, 2004, vol. 83, no. 4, p. 587-602

After decades of controversies about the quantitative importance of autoregulatory adjustments in energy expenditure in weight regulation, there is now increasing recognition that even subtle variations in thermogenesis could, in dynamic systems and over the long term, be important in determining weight maintenance in some and obesity in others. The main challenge nowadays is to provide a...

Université de Fribourg

Cocaine-induced expression changes of axon guidance molecules in the adult rat brain

Bahi, Amine ; Dreyer, Jean-Luc

In: Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, 2005, vol. 28(2), p. 275-291

Administration of drugs of abuse induces strong molecular adaptations and plasticity within the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system, a pathway essential for reward-seeking behavior. Little is known about the specific targets involved in this neuroadaptation process, but there are indications that cocaine and other drugs of abuse share the ability to alter the morphology of neuronal dendrites and...

Université de Fribourg

The clock gene Per2 influences the glutamatergic system and modulates alcohol consumption

Spanagel, Rainer ; Pendyala, Gurudutt ; Abarca, Carolina ; Zghoul, Tarek ; Sanchis-Segura, Carles ; Magnone, Maria Chiara ; Lascorz, Jesús ; Depner, Martin ; Holzberg, David ; Soyka, Michael ; Schreiber, Stefan ; Matsuda, Fumihiko ; Lathrop, Mark ; Schumann, Gunter ; Albrecht, Urs

In: Nature Medicine, 2004, vol. 11, p. 35-42

Period (Per) genes are involved in regulation of the circadian clock and are thought to modulate several brain functions. We demonstrate that Per2Brdm1 mutant mice, which have a deletion in the PAS domain of the Per2 protein, show alterations in the glutamatergic system. Lowered expression of the glutamate transporter Eaat1 is observed in these animals, leading to reduced uptake of glutamate by...

Université de Fribourg

CD81-induced behavioural changes during chronic cocaine administration: in vivo gene delivery with regulatable lentivirus

Bahi, Amine ; Boyer, Frederic ; Kafri, Tal ; Dreyer, Jean-Luc

In: European Journal of Neuroscience, 2004, vol. 19, p. 1621-1633

CD81, a tetraspanin transmembrane protein involved in cell adhesion, is up-regulated in the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway 24 h following acute administration of high doses of cocaine [Brenz-Verca et al., (2001) Mol. Cell. Neurosci., 17, 303-316]. Further evidence consecutive with this observation and based on microarray analysis are presented here. In addition, a regulatable lentivirus was...