Extracellular nucleotides have been implicated as signaling molecules used by microglia to sense adverse physiological conditions, such as neuronal damage. They act through purinoceptors, especially the G-protein-coupled P2Y receptor P2Y 12 R. Emerging evidence has indicated that activated spinal microglia responding to nerve injury are key cellular intermediaries in the resulting highly debilitating chronic pain state, namely neuropathic pain. However, the role of microglial P2Y 12 Rs in neuropathic pain remains unknown. Here, we show that the level of P2Y 12 R mRNA expression was markedly increased in the spinal cord ipsilateral to the nerve injury and that this expression was highly restricted to ionized binding calcium adapter molecule 1-positive microglia. An increase in the immunofluorescence of P2Y 12 R protein in the ipsilateral spinal cord was also observed after nerve injury, and P2Y 12 R-positive cells were double labeled with the microglial marker OX-42. Blocking spinal P2Y 12 R by the intrathecal administration of its antagonist AR-C69931MX prevented the development of tactile allodynia (pain hypersensitivity to innocuous stimuli), a hallmark of neuropathic pain syndrome. Furthermore, mice lacking P2ry 12 (P2ry 12 ؊/؊ ) displayed impaired tactile allodynia after nerve injury without any change in basal mechanical sensitivity. Moreover, a single intrathecal administration of AR-C69931MX or oral administration of clopidogrel (a P2Y 12 R blocker clinically in use) to nerve-injured rats produced a striking alleviation of existing tactile allodynia. Together, our findings indicate that activation of P2Y 12 Rs in spinal microglia may be a critical event in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain and suggest that blocking microglial P2Y 12 R might be a viable therapeutic strategy for treating neuropathic pain.

Background Clinical trial and epidemiological data support that the cardiovascular effects of estrogen are complex, including a mixture of both potentially beneficial and harmful effects. In animal models, estrogen protects females from vascular injury and inhibits atherosclerosis. These effects are mediated by estrogen receptors (ERs), which when bound to estrogen can bind to DNA to directly regulate transcription. ERs can also activate several cellular kinases by inducing a “rapid” non-nuclear signaling cascade. However, the biologic significance of this rapid signaling pathway has been unclear. Methods and Results Here, we develop a novel transgenic mouse in which rapid signaling is blocked by over-expression of a peptide that prevents ERs from interacting with the scaffold protein, striatin (the Disrupting Peptide Mouse, DPM). Microarray analysis of ex vivo-treated mouse aortas demonstrates that rapid ER signaling plays an important role in estrogen-mediated gene regulatory responses. Disruption of ER-striatin interactions also eliminates the ability of estrogen to stimulate cultured endothelial cell migration and to inhibit cultured vascular smooth muscle cell growth. The importance of these findings is underscored by in vivo experiments demonstrating loss of estrogen-mediated protection against vascular injury in the DPM mouse following carotid artery wire injury. Conclusions Taken together, these results support that rapid, non-nuclear ER signaling contributes to the transcriptional regulatory functions of ER, and is essential for many of the vasoprotective effects of estrogen. These findings also identify the rapid ER signaling pathway as a potential target for the development of novel therapeutic agents.

ECG was a safe and reliable method for showing HR, and was used to determine the initiation and the effectiveness of resuscitation in the delivery room.

Summary Purpose Early onset epileptic encephalopathies (EOEEs) are heterogeneous epileptic disorders caused by various abnormalities in causative genes including point mutations and copy number variations (CNVs). In this study, we performed targeted capture and sequencing of a subset of genes to detect point mutations and CNVs simultaneously. Methods We designed complementary RNA oligonucleotide probes against the coding exons of 35 known and potential candidate genes. We tested 68 unrelated patients, including 15 patients with previously detected mutations as positive controls. In addition to mutation detection by the Genome Analysis Toolkit, CNVs were detected by the relative depth of coverage ratio. All detected events were confirmed by Sanger sequencing or genomic microarray analysis. Key Findings We detected all positive control mutations. In addition, in 53 patients with EOEEs, we detected 12 pathogenic mutations, including 9 point mutations (2 nonsense, 3 splice‐site, and 4 missense mutations), 2 frameshift mutations, and one 3.7‐Mb microdeletion. Ten of the 12 mutations occurred de novo; the other two had been previously reported as pathogenic. The entire process of targeted capture, sequencing, and analysis required 1 week for the testing of up to 24 patients. Significance Targeted capture and sequencing enables the identification of mutations of all classes causing EOEEs, highlighting its usefulness for rapid and comprehensive genetic testing.