Friday, February 19, 2010

Making Gains on Pain Research

Neuromics' Pain Research Customers continue to make gains using our Pain and Inflammation Research Antibodies and Transfection Kits. Here are the latest pubs:

Hua Zhang and A. S. Verkman. Aquaporin-1 Tunes Pain Perception by Interaction with Nav1.8 Na+ Channels in Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons. February 19, 2010 The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 285, 5896-5906.

...chicken anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP; 1:500, Neuromics, Edina, MN)...

Nathaniel A. Sowa, Bonnie Taylor-Blake, and Mark J. Zylka. Ecto-5'-Nucleotidase (CD73) Inhibits Nociception by Hydrolyzing AMP to Adenosine in Nociceptive Circuits. The Journal of Neuroscience, February 10, 2010, 30(6):2235-2244; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5324-09.2010.


...rabbit anti-P2X3-RA10109, Neuromics; 1:750), rabbit anti- VR1 C-Terminus (TRPV1) - mouse specific (RA14113, Neuromics; 1:750

Images: Images: Confocal images showing the effect of RTX on mu opioid receptor and TRPV1 immunoreactive DRG neurons and afferent terminals in the spinal cord. A: representative confocal images showing mu opioid receptor (green) and TRPV1 (red) immunoreactivities in DRG neurons of one vehicle- and one RTX-treated rat. Scale bar, 40 um. B: confocal images showing mu opioid receptor (green) and TRPV1 (red) immunoreactivities in afferent terminals in the spinal dorsal horn of 1 vehicle- and 1 RTX-treated rat. Scale bar, 80 um. Inset: high-magnification images (scale bar = 5 um) showing co-localization of mu opioid receptor and TRPV1 immunoreactivity in the lamina I. Co-localization of the mu opioid receptor and TRPV1 immunoreactivity is indicated in yellow when 2 images are digitally merged. All images are single confocal optical sections. Shao-Rui Chen and Hui-Lin Pan. Loss of TRPV1-Expressing Sensory Neurons Reduces Spinal mu-Opioid Receptors But Paradoxically Potentiates Opioid Analgesia. doi:10.1152/jn.01343.2005.

Neuromics' i-Fect ™ siRNA Transfection Reagent continues to be used a tool for studying expression of genes suspected to paly a role in pain . Expression studies include: DOR , The β3 subunit of the Na+,K+-ATPase, rSNSR1, NTS1. NAV1.8, CaV1.2 and more.

Here's a link to all transfection publications: Transfection Kit Pubs

Related Reagents:


Neurotransmission Research Antibodies-GPCRs, Ligand Gated Ion Channels, Biogenic Amines and more
Purinergic Receptors

Primary Neurons and Astrocytes- Primary human, rat and mouse neurons and astrocytes by Category

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Turning Placenta Into Brain

We are pleased to feature a recent publication featuring:

C. Bettina Portmann-Lanz PhD, Andreina Schoeberlein PhD, Reto Portmann PhD, Stefan Mohr MD, Pierre Rollini PhD, Ruth Sager1 and Daniel V. Surbek MD. Turning placenta into brain: placental mesenchymal stem cells differentiate into neurons and oligodendrocytes. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2009.10.893... β-Tubulin III (Tuj-1), Mouse, Neuromics...

The researchers successfully induced neural stem (NSC) and progenitor cells (NPC) from human placental tissues.

Here are the highlights:

Study Design
Placental stem cells from first-trimester placental chorionic villi and term chorion were isolated. Neural differentiation was initiated with plating on collagen, retinoic acid, and/or human brain-derived neurotrophic factor and epidermal and fibroblast growth factor. Differentiation into neurons, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes was monitored by immunohistochemistry. Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, high-performance liquid chromatography, and tandem mass spectrometry were used to identify proteins involved in the differentiation.

Results
Differentiated cells were mostly immediately postmitotic with some more but not fully mature postmitotic neurons. Neurons had dopaminergic or serotonergic character. Some cells differentiated into predominantly immature oligodendrocytes. Upon differentiation, neuron-specific proteins were up-regulated, whereas placental proteins were reduced.

Conclusion
Stem cells derived from human placenta can be differentiated into neural progenitors.

Featured Antibody
Tuj 1 (Neuron-specific class III beta-tubulin)-Mouse

Related Reagents:
NSE (Neuron-Specific Enolase)

Nestin

Musashi-1

Neuron/Glial Markers

Stem Cell Research Reagents