1.GABAergic Pharmacotherapy in the Treatment of Motor Disorders of the Central Nervous System.
Gazulla J1, Ruiz-Gazulla C, Tintore M. Curr Pharm Des. 2015;21(34):4989-95.
Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, and diseases that associate a deficiency in GABA might benefit from GABAergic drugs. Cerebellar Purkinje cells employ GABA as a neurotransmitter. Cortical cerebellar atrophy (CCA) shows Purkinje cell loss, and ataxia caused by it was alleviated by gabapentin and pregabalin. Thus, CCA is proposed as a model of selective deficiency in GABA in the cerebellum, which benefits clinically from administration of GABAergic drugs, in a manner similar in which levodopa improves motor manifestations in Parkinson's disease. Other ataxias also benefited clinically from GABAergic drugs, as adult-onset GM2 gangliosidosis, olivopontocerebellar atrophy, cerebellar ataxia with hypogonadism, spinocerebellar ataxias 1, 2 and 6, and adult-onset ataxia-telangiectasia. Complex neurochemical diseases, as multiple-system atrophy, had ataxia worsened by GABAergic drugs.
2.Insights into the mechanism of C5aR inhibition by PMX53 via implicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations and docking.
Tamamis P1, Kieslich CA2, Nikiforovich GV3, Woodruff TM4, Morikis D2, Archontis G1. BMC Biophys. 2014 Aug 12;7:5. doi: 10.1186/2046-1682-7-5. eCollection 2014.
BACKGROUND: The complement protein C5a acts by primarily binding and activating the G-protein coupled C5a receptor C5aR (CD88), and is implicated in many inflammatory diseases. The cyclic hexapeptide PMX53 (sequence Ace-Phe-[Orn-Pro-dCha-Trp-Arg]) is a full C5aR antagonist of nanomolar potency, and is widely used to study C5aR function in disease.
3.No Habitat Selection during Spring Migration at a Meso-Scale Range across Mosaic Landscapes: A Case Study with the Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola).
Crespo A1, Rodrigues M2, Telletxea I3, Ibáñez R3, Díez F3, Tobar JF3, Arizaga J1. PLoS One. 2016 Mar 22;11(3):e0149790. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0149790. eCollection 2016.
Success of migration in birds in part depends on habitat selection. Overall, it is still poorly known whether there is habitat selection amongst landbird migrants moving across landscapes. Europe is chiefly covered by agro-forestry mosaic landscapes, so migratory species associated to either agricultural landscapes or woodland habitats should theoretically find suitable stopover sites along migration. During migration from wintering to breeding quarters, woodcocks (Scolopax rusticola) tagged with PTT satellite-tracking transmitters were used to test for the hypothesis that migrants associated to agro-forest habitats have no habitat selection during migration, at a meso-scale level. Using a GIS platform we extracted at a meso-scale range habitat cover at stopover localities. Results obtained from comparisons of soil covers between points randomly selected and true stopover localities sites revealed, as expected, the species may not select for particular habitats at a meso-scale range, because the habitat (or habitats) required by the species can be found virtually everywhere on their migration route.
