Publication

Birdsong is a precisely timed animal behavior. The connectivity of song premotor neural networks has been proposed to underlie the temporal patterns of neuronal activity that control vo-cal muscle movements during singing. Although the connectivity of premotor nuclei via chemical synapses has been characterized, electrical synapses and their molecular identity remain unex-plored.

Understanding viral tropism is an essential step toward reducing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission, decreasing mortality from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and limiting opportunities for mutant strains to arise. Currently, little is known about the extent to which distinct tissue sites in the human head and neck region and proximal respiratory tract selectively permit SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication.

The neural mechanisms underlying increases in gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion that drive puberty onset are unknown. Neurons coexpressing kisspeptin, neurokinin B (NKB), and dynorphin, i.e., KNDy neurons, are important as kisspeptin and NKB are stimulatory, and dynorphin inhibitory, to GnRH secretion. Given this, we hypothesized that kisspeptin and NKB expression would increase, but that dynorphin expression would decrease, with puberty.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been shown in previous studies to cause hypothermia and hypometabolism in mice, and its thermoregulatory effects were subsequently investigated. However, the molecular target through which H2S triggers its effects on deep body temperature has remained unknown. We investigated the thermoregulatory response to fast-(Na2S) and slow-releasing (GYY4137) H2S donors in C57BL/6 mice, and then tested whether their effects depend on the transient receptor potential ankyrin-1 (TRPA1) channel in Trpa1 knockout (Trpa1-/-) and wild-type (Trpa1+/+) mice.

The stemness-associated markers OCT4, NANOG, SOX2, KLF4 and c-MYC are expressed in numerous cancer types suggesting the presence of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining performed on 12 lung adenocarcinoma (LA) tissue samples showed protein expression of OCT4, NANOG, SOX2, KLF4 and c-MYC, and the CSC marker CD44. In situ hybridization (ISH) performed on six of the LA tissue samples showed mRNA expression of OCT4, NANOG, SOX2, KLF4 and c-MYC.

There is limited literature detailing the histology of pharyngeal papillomas. Herein, we report our experience with papillomas occurring in the oro-and nasopharynx that have both squamous and respiratory features akin to the sinonasal Schneiderian papilloma. We retrospectively reviewed pharyngeal papillomas that were composed of both squamous and respiratory epithelium received at our institution between 2010 and 2020. Cases of sinonasal papillomas directly extending into the pharynx were excluded.

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease, characterized by the immune-mediated destruction of insulin-producing β cells of pancreatic islets. Essential components of the innate immune antiviral response, including type I IFN and IFN receptor (IFNAR)-mediated signaling pathways, likely contribute to human type 1 diabetes susceptibility. We previously showed that LEW.1WR1 Ifnar1 -/- rats have a significant reduction in diabetes frequency following Kilham rat virus (KRV) infection.

This study describes a protocol for the multiplex in situ hybridization (ISH) of the mouse jugular-nodose ganglia, with a particular emphasis on detecting the expression of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Formalin-fixed jugular-nodose ganglia were processed with the RNAscope technology to simultaneously detect the expression of two representative GPCRs (cholecystokinin and ghrelin receptors) in combination with one marker gene of either nodose (paired-like homeobox 2b, Phox2b) or jugular afferent neurons (PR domain zinc finger protein 12, Prdm12).

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infectious disease caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum and can cause a wide variety of cutaneous manifestations, most commonly, a papulosquamous eruption of the trunk and extremities. Treatment with penicillin is curative. We report a case of a 69-year-old man who presented with recent onset of blurry vision and a non-painful, non-pruritic eruption of pink-to-violaceous dermal nodules on his upper trunk and upper extremities.