Disease relevance of Urodela

• Euxanthone, a neuritogenic agent isolated from the medicinal herb Polygala caudata, has been shown to induce morphological differentiation and neurite outgrowth in murine neuroblastoma Neuro 2a cells (BU-1 subclone) [1].
• The potential of mitotane (ortho, para'-DDD, commonly used to treat adrenal carcinomas in humans and dogs) was investigated as an alternative to surgical adrenalectomy in birds, salamanders, and lizards [2].
• Tetanus toxin (Tt) binding site and neurofilament (NIF), the intermediate-sized filaments, are neuronal markers essentially described in mammals and birds; are these molecular markers present in urodela neuronal cells and are they expressed immediately after neural induction [3]?

High impact information on Urodela

• Effect of calcium ionophore Br-X537A on renin synthesis and release in Amphiuma means kidney culture [4].
• Neoplastic skin lesions in salamanders from a sewage lagoon containing perylene [5].
• We report the link between the rapid appearance of a pathogenic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in an amphibian community at El Copé, Panama, and subsequent mass mortality and loss of amphibian biodiversity across eight families of frogs and salamanders [6].
• We have detected d-serine and its synthesizing enzyme, serine racemase, in the retinas of several vertebrate species, including salamanders, rats, and mice and have localized both constituents to Müller cells and astrocytes, the two major glial cell types in the retina [7].
• Physiological studies in rats and salamanders demonstrated that, in retinal ganglion cells, d-serine can enhance excitatory currents elicited by the application of NMDA, as well as the NMDA receptor component of light-evoked synaptic responses [7].

Biological context of Urodela

• When they were exposed to the Ca ionophore A23187, Amphiuma red blood cells lost K, Cl, and H2O with kinetics (time course) similar to those observed during RVD [8].
• We analyzed sequence data for 555 bp of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome b in plethodontid salamanders, taken from 18 ingroup (tribe Bolitoglossini) and 4 outgroup (tribe Plethodontini) taxa [9].
• We used these replicated species to test the hypothesis that inheritance of alternate genotypes at two thyroid hormone receptor loci (TRalpha, TRbeta) affects metamorphic timing in ambystomatid salamanders [10].
• Cell division was compared throughout the year by injecting salamanders once with 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU), which is incorporated into the DNA of cells during DNA synthesis, and sacrificing them one hour after injection [11].
• Plasma androgen levels, spermatogenesis, and secondary sexual characteristics in two species of plethodontid salamanders with dissociated reproductive patterns [12].

Anatomical context of Urodela

• Incubation of concentrated salt-extracted soluble antigens derived from HVA-carrying marmoset lines with methanol/acetic acid-fixed erythrocytes of frogs and salamanders resulted in a brilliant nuclear fluorescence after exposure to a live virus-boostered, anti-HVS-positive squirrel monkey serum [13].
• One major parvalbumin each was isolated from the skeletal muscle of two reptiles, a boa snake, Boa constrictor, and a map turtle, Graptemys geographica, while two parvalbumins were isolated from an amphibian, the salamander Amphiuma means [14].
• Chloride transport and intracellular chloride activity in the presence of theophylline in Amphiuma small intestine [15].
• In the medulla oblongata of plethodontid salamanders, GABA-, glycine-, and glutamate-like immunoreactivity (ir) of neurons was studied [16].
• Comparison with the molecular regulation of vertebral development described in modern mammals and birds suggests that the rapid chondrification of the centra in salamanders relative to that of frogs may result from the earlier migration of sclerotomal cells expressing Pax1 to the area surrounding the notochord [17].

Associations of Urodela with chemical compounds

• Thiazide diuretics inhibit electroneutral NaCl reabsorption across the distal tubule of the salamander, Amphiuma, and hyperpolarize the basolateral membrane voltage (Vbl) of distal tubule cells [18].
• Consequently, salamanders exposed to >or=4 ppb of atrazine had significantly lower survival than did control animals 14 months postexposure [19].
• Distribution of substance P-like, leucine-enkephalin-like, and bombesine-like immunoreactivity and acetylcholinesterase activity in the visual system of salamanders [20].
• In the regenerating limbs of Korean salamanders, Hynobius leechii, retinoic acid (RA) induces duplication of skeletal structures in the proximodistal (PD) axis and often in the transverse axes [21].
• Inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis in the regenerating limb of salamanders treated with a DL-methadone or narcotic antagonists [22].

Gene context of Urodela

• Localization of two nitric oxide synthase isoforms, eNOS and iNOS, in the skin of Triturus italicus (Amphibia, Urodela) during development [23].
• LAP2 expression in frogs, salamanders and fish does not vary with the mode of reproduction [24].
• Analyzing the radiation of the melanocortins in amphibians: cloning of POMC cDNAs from the pituitary of the urodele amphibians, Amphiuma means and Necturus maculosus [25].
• Amphiuma pancreatic somatostatin is identical to mammalian somatostatin-14 [26].
• The cell distribution and expression patterns of LAP2 in fish, frogs and salamanders are comparable with those found in Xenopus and zebrafish [24].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Urodela

• Calcium-activated potassium channels in the luminal membrane of Amphiuma diluting segment were studied using the patch-clamp technique in both the cell-attached and inside-out configurations [27].
• Organ culture of adult Amphiuma means kidney: effects of media and urea on ammonia production, glycogen content and cell proliferation [28].
• To obtain more information on the ultrastructure of the distal nephron of the salamander, Amphiuma, we conducted freeze-fracture electron microscopy and morphometric experiments [29].
• The ratio of Cl- absorbed to HCO3- secreted by the in vitro small intestine of Amphiuma was measured using 36Cl and titration [30].
• Double-barreled chloride-selective microelectrodes constructed by a new method have been used to determine intracellular chloride activity (aic1) in the absorptive cells of isolated, stripped proximal and distal segments of Amphiuma small intestine [31].

References