High impact information on Lampreys

• In this study, evidence is provided that the lampreys express a member of the purine box 1 (PU.1)/spleen focus-forming virus integration B (Spi-B) gene family known to be critically and specifically involved in the differentiation of lymphocytes in jawed vertebrates [1].
• All vertebrates other than lampreys exhibit multiple loci encoding lactate dehydrogenase +ADL-LDH; (S)-lactate:NAD+ oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.27+BD [2].
• The duplication that formed nerve growth factor, neurotrophin-3, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and neurotrophin-4/5 occurred after the split of lampreys but before the split of cartilaginous fish from the main vertebrate lineage [3].
• The effect of phenytoin (PTN), 20 microgram per milliliter, was tested on the composite electrical-chemical synapse between pairs of giant interneurons in the isolated spinal cords of river lampreys (Ichthimyzon unicuspis) [4].
• Synthetic lamprey I GnRH elevates plasma estradiol in adult female lampreys [5].

Biological context of Lampreys

• The presence of glomeruli in myxines and of nephron loops in lampreys suggests that fresh water animals used the preformed glomerular apparatus of early vertebrates, while mechanisms of urinary concentration was associated with the subdivision of the kidney into the renal cortex and medulla [6].
• Choline acetyltransferase-immunoreactive cells were found in the region identified as the MLR of lampreys and nicotinic antagonists depressed, whereas physostigmine enhanced the compound EPSP evoked in reticulospinal neurons by electrical stimulation of this region [7].
• In this paper we report successful transfection of neurons in the brain of living lampreys by means of a hand-held Helios Gene Gun [8].
• Experimental manipulation showed that volume depletion (removal of 40% blood volume) rapidly activated the RAS of lampreys acclimated to water at 576 mOsm kg(-1) (21 p.p.t.), significantly increasing plasma angiotensin concentrations after 30 min and 60 min [9].
• The role of hormones in initiation of sexual maturation in male river lampreys (Lampetra fluviatilis, L.): gonadotropin and testosterone [10].

Anatomical context of Lampreys

• The chloride cell of lampreys (Lampetra japonica, Petromyzon marinus) is largely occupied with a continuous network of cytoplasmic tubules, which are derived from the invagination of the basolateral plasma membrane [11].
• Taken together, these results suggest that substance P plays a neuromodulatory role on the brain stem locomotor networks of lampreys [12].
• Keratin-like immunoreactivity was found in all parts of the central and peripheral nervous systems in both larval and adult lampreys [13].
• Iron is present in ferric and ferrous forms in the hepatocytes of larval lampreys in levels that can only be detected in the electron microscope [14].
• In October, the glucose level is rather high (8-10 mM) in blood plasma of both lampreys and frogs [15].

Associations of Lampreys with chemical compounds

• L-Lactate dehydrogenase (L-LDH, E.C. 1.1.1.27) is encoded by two or three loci in all vertebrates examined, with the exception of lampreys, which have a single LDH locus [16].
• Intraperitoneal injection of synthetic lamprey GnRH-III (0.1 microgram/g) produced a significant (P < 0.05) elevation of plasma progesterone (31% over basal values) in female lampreys that was comparable to that produced by the same dose of lamprey GnRH-I (36% over basal) [17].
• A novel glycoprotein in the olfactory and pituitary systems of larval and adult lampreys [18].
• Silver lampreys (Ichthyomyzon unicuspis) lack a gonadotropin-releasing hormone- and FMRFamide-immunoreactive terminal nerve [19].
• To determine whether this was due to the genesis of 5-HT neurons, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was injected into larval, metamorphosing, and postmetamorphic lampreys [20].

Gene context of Lampreys

• 5. Both NPY and PYY were present in the early vertebrate ancestor because both peptides have been found in lampreys [21].
• The analysis of the sequences suggests that, like tetrapods, the lampreys possess two types of proteoglycans, both of which are biglycan-like; decorin-like proteoglycans could not be identified in these species [22].
• In addition, the successful use of antibodies and probes based on the human sequence in the lamprey also provides evidence that the PTHrP molecule may have been conserved from lampreys through to humans [23].
• In the higher teleosts, magnocellular hypothalamo-neurohypophysial neurones predominate in size and number, whereas smaller periventricular MCH neurones associated with the paraventricular organ, that are prominent in lampreys, early actinopterygians and tetrapods, are reduced in teleosts [24].
• Compared with heteropolymeric assemblies of NF triplet proteins in mammals, NF in lampreys has been thought to contain only a single subunit (NF180) [25].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Lampreys

• Tachykinins were also reported in the CNS of lampreys using immunohistochemistry, chromatography, and radioimmunoassay methods, but the use of substance P (SP)-specific antibodies to reveal those tachykinins could have led to an underestimation of their number in this genus [26].
• Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) levels were measured by radioimmunoassay in the CNS of larval and adult sea lampreys and adult river lampreys [27].
• Polyclonal antisera raised against conjugated GABA were used to study the distribution of GABAergic neurons in the spinal cords of lampreys (Lampetra fluviatilis and Ichtyomyzon unicuspis) using immunofluorescence and peroxidase-antiperoxidase techniques [28].

References