Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0220723 (PCA)
 4,687 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Serotonin and dexamethasone act as differentiating agents during development. Reducing circulating adrenal steroids or central 5-HT levels via adrenalectomy (ADX) or the tryptophan hydroxylase inhibitor, para-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA), respectively, has been shown to have de-differentiating effects in the adult brain. Morphometric analysis of 5-HT, S100 beta, MAP-2 and synaptophysin immunoreactivity (IR) was used to follow the molecular plasticity of several brain regions after lesioning of 5-HT nerve terminals by para-chloroamphetamine (PCA; 2 x 10 mg/kg s.c.), a serotonin neurotoxin. Two weeks after PCA treatment we observed reductions of 5-HT, S100 beta, and MAP-2 IR in parietal and temporal cortex, temporal pole, hippocampus and hypothalamus. The reductions in MAP-2 and synaptophysin-IR were reversed by 3 days of treatment with dexamethasone (10 mg/l drinking water) or ipsapirone, a 5-HT1A agonist (1 mg/kg s.c.). The loss of S100-IR was reversed only by the 5-HT1A agonist. These results indicate that both dexamethasone and serotonin have effects on adult neuronal plasticity but may work via different mechanisms. The implications of these findings to the loss of synaptophysin and MAP-2 staining in Alzheimer's disease are discussed.
 ...
PMID:5-HT1A agonist and dexamethasone reversal of para-chloroamphetamine induced loss of MAP-2 and synaptophysin immunoreactivity in adult rat brain. 755 42

Methylmercury is a potent neurotoxin produced in natural environments from inorganic mercury by anaerobic bacteria. However, until now the genes and proteins involved have remained unidentified. Here, we report a two-gene cluster, hgcA and hgcB, required for mercury methylation by Desulfovibrio desulfuricans ND132 and Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA. In either bacterium, deletion of hgcA, hgcB, or both genes abolishes mercury methylation. The genes encode a putative corrinoid protein, HgcA, and a 2[4Fe-4S] ferredoxin, HgcB, consistent with roles as a methyl carrier and an electron donor required for corrinoid cofactor reduction, respectively. Among bacteria and archaea with sequenced genomes, gene orthologs are present in confirmed methylators but absent in nonmethylators, suggesting a common mercury methylation pathway in all methylating bacteria and archaea sequenced to date.
 ...
PMID:The genetic basis for bacterial mercury methylation. 2349