Byeong Keun Ha

In the adult cerebellum, corticotropin releasing factor (CRF), that is localized in climbing fibers, mossy fibers, and a fine varicose plexus along the Purkinje cell layer, modulates the responsiveness of Purkinje cells to excitatory amino acids. During development, CRF has been detected in the primitive cerebellar anlage as early as embryonic day (E)10, and is continuously expressed throughout embryonic and postnatal cerebellar ontogeny. To investigate a possible trophic role for CRF ...

Activity-dependent modulation of synaptic efficacy in the brain contributes to neural circuit development and experience-dependent plasticity. Although glia are affected by activity and ensheathe synapses, their influence on synaptic strength has largely been ignored. Here, we show that a protein produced by glia, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), enhances synaptic efficacy by increasing surface expression of AMPA receptors. Preventing the actions of endogenous TNFalpha has the ...

Microglia are key mediators of the immune response in the central nervous system (CNS). They are closely related to macrophages and undergo dramatic morphological and functional changes after CNS trauma or excitotoxic lesions. Microglia can be directly stimulated by excitatory neurotransmitters and are known to express many neurotransmitter receptors. The role of these receptors, however, is not clear. This study describes the microglial response to the glutamate receptor agonist kainate ...

In addition to well-known N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated excitotoxicity, recent studies suggest that non-NMDA type ionotropic glutamate receptors are also important mediators of excitotoxic neuronal death, and that their functional expression can be regulated by the cellular environment. In this study, we used cerebellar granule cells (CGCs) in culture to investigate kainate (KA)-induced excitotoxicity. Although previous reports indicated that KA induces apoptosis of CGCs ...

High concentrations of novel, haloperidol- and DTG-inaccessible (+)-[3H]-3-PPP binding sites were found in human peripheral blood leukocytes rat spleen and splenocytes, but not in rat brain. Splenic sites were localized in a course punctate pattern in the marginal zones and red pulp. The pharmacology of the splenic sites was: (-)-SKF 10,047 > or = naltrexone = (-)-pentazocine > (+)-pentazocine = (-)-3-PPP = (+)-SKF 10,047 > or = (+)-3-PPP > or = dextrorphan > dextromethorphan > PCP > ...

In vitro receptor autoradiography was used to localize sigma 1 receptors, sigma 2 receptors, and novel haloperidol/DTG-inaccessible sites for sigma and opiate ligands in rat spleen. Sigma-1 receptors were present throughout the spleen, but were most concentrated in the T cell zones. Binding under "sigma 2 receptor-selective' conditions was 70% nonspecific, and sigma 2 receptors could not be detected. Haloperidol/DTG-inaccessible sites had a coarse, punctate distribution in the red pulp ...

BACKGROUND: Smooth muscle tumors of the vulva are rare and sometimes create diagnostic difficulty because of unusual morphological features.

CASE: A 29-year-old African-American female presented with a vulval mass during her 5th week of pregnancy. The lesion was surgically removed under the clinical impression of a Bartholin cyst. Histopathological findings of the lesion and immunohistochemical stain results are characteristic of myxoid epithelioid leiomyoma.

CONCLUSION: Up to now, there ...

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) type cytokines show functional redundancy in the immune, hematopoietic, and nervous system, which is believed to result from sharing of the signal transducing receptor gp130. IL-6 type cytokines and their binding receptors have been localized in the adult cerebellum. However, the cellular localization and developmental regulation of gp130 in the cerebellum have not been determined. In the present study the expression pattern of gp130 in the developing and adult mouse ...