Adult C57Bl/6 mice hemizygous for a collagen type I alpha 2 (Col1 alpha 2) promoter-controlled tamoxifen-inducible Cre recombinase gene and homozygous for loxP-beta 1 integrin were injected with tamoxifen or corn oil to generate mice deleted or not for beta 1 integrin. Pancreata derived from these male mice were analyzed by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, western blot and immunofluorescence. Our results showed that beta 1 integrin-deficient mice displayed a significant decrease in pancreas weight with
a significant reduction of amylase, regenerating islet-derived protein II and carboxypeptidase-A expression (P<0.05-0.01). Compared with control pancreata, beta 1 integrin-deficient Givinostat research buy pancreata showed reduced mRNA expression of extracellular matrix (collagen type I alpha 2, fibronectin and laminin) genes (P<0.05), detached acini clusters and lost focal adhesion structure. Moreover, beta 1 integrin-deficient pancreatic acinar cells displayed decreased proliferation (P<0.05) and increased TEW-7197 datasheet apoptosis (P<0.001). Apoptosis was reduced to that of controls when isolated exocrine clusters were cultured in media supplemented with extracellular matrix proteins. Taken together, these
results implicate beta 1 integrin as an essential component for maintaining exocrine pancreatic structure and function. Laboratory Investigation (2013) 93, 31-40; doi: 10.1038/labinvest.2012.147; published online 15 October 2012″
“Pain has sensory-discriminative and emotional-affective dimensions. Recent studies show that the affective component can be assessed with a conditioned place avoidance (CPA) test. We hypothesized that systemic morphine before a post-conditioning test would more potently attenuate the affective aspect compared to the sensory component VEGFR inhibitor and that [D-Ala2-N-Me-Phe4, Gly-ol5]-enkephalin
(DAMGO), a mu-selective opioid receptor agonist, injected into the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) would reduce established CPA. A rat model of inflammatory pain, produced by a complete Freund adjuvant (CFA) injection into the hind paw, was combined with a CPA test. Three experiments were performed on adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. Systemic morphine (0.5 or 1.0 mg/kg) in Experiment 1, intrathecal (i.t.) morphine (2.5 mu g/rat) in Experiment 2, and intra-CeA DAMGO (7.7-15.4 ng/0.4 mu l) in Experiment 3 were given to CFA-injected rats (n = 6-8/group) prior to a post-conditioning test. Saline-injected rats were used as control. Time spent in a pain-paired compartment was recorded twice, before conditioning and after a post-conditioning test. Paw withdrawal latency (PWL) to a noxious thermal stimulus was measured before experiment at day-1 and after the post-conditioning test; hyperalgesia was defined as a decrease in PWL. The data showed that CFA-injected rats had significantly negative CPA compared to those of saline-injected rats (P < 0.05).