Although Daam1 is mostly expressed in the shaft of dendrites, co-stainings with SV2 or PSD95 revealed that Daam1 is also present at some synapses. In addition, viral directed expression of a fluorescently tagged Daam1 fusion protein

in hippocampal slices resulted in targeted delivery to the dendrites of pyramidal neurons, leading to a reduction in the density of spines. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“A major obstacle in analyzing the evolution of information exchange and processing is our insufficient understanding of the underlying signaling and decision-making biological mechanisms. For instance, it is unclear why are humans unique in developing such extensive communication abilities. To treat this problem, a method based on the mutual information approach is developed that evaluates the information content of communication between interacting individuals through correlations of their behavior patterns (rather than calculating the information https://www.selleckchem.com/products/AC-220.html load of exchanged discrete signals, e.g. Shannon entropy). It predicts that correlated interactions of the indirect reciprocity type together with affective behavior and selection rules changing

with time are necessary conditions for the emergence of significant information exchange. Selleckchem GSK2118436 Population size variations accelerate this development. These results are supported by evidence of demographic bottlenecks, distinguishing human from other species’ (e.g. apes) evolution line. They indicate as well new pathways for evolution of information based phenomena, such as intelligence and complexity. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Human cannabinoid receptors 1 (hCB(1)R) and 2 (hCB(2)R) are expressed in the CNS and couple to G(i)/G(o)-proteins. The aim of this study was to compare coupling of hCB(1)R and hCB(2)R to G alpha(i2)beta(1)gamma(2) in Sf9 insect cells. High-affinity agonist binding at hCB(1)R, but not at hCB(2)R, was resistant to guanine nucleotides. hCB(1)R activated G alpha(i2)beta(1)gamma(2) much more rapidly than hCB(2)R in the [(35)S]guanosine 5′-[y-thioItriphosphate ([(35)S]GTP-YS) binding assay. Moreover, hCB(1)R exhibited a higher constitutive activity

than hCB(2)R as assessed by the relative inhibitory effects of inverse agonists on [(35)S]GTP-yS binding and steady-state high-affinity GTPase activity LCL161 cell line compared to the stimulatory effects of the hCB(1/2)R agonist CP 55,940 [(-)-cis-3-[2-hydroxy-4-(1,1dimethylheptyl)phenyll-trans-4-(3-hydroxypropyl)cyclohexanol]. G alpha(i2)beta(1)gamma(2) coupled to hCB(2)R exhibited higher GDP- and GTP gamma S-affinities than G alpha(i2)beta(1)gamma(2) coupled to hCB(1)R. NaCl effectively reduced constitutive activity of hCB(1)R but not of hCB(2)R. Collectively, hCB(1)R and hCB(2)R couple differentially to G alpha(i2)beta(1)gamma(2). Moreover, hCB(1)R exhibits higher constitutive activity than hCB(2)R. These differences point to distinct functions of hCB(1)R and hCB(2)R in the CNS.