Abstract figure legend Contribution of excessive mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) pathology. Left, under physiological condition, mitochondria located in different tissues (from top to bottom: upper motor neuron, astrocytes, lower motor neurons, neuromuscular junction (NMJ) and skeletal muscle) take up Ca2+ during neuronal and muscle activity and produce ATP through oxidative phosphorylation to support physiological activities of the cells. Right, under diseased condition, mitochondria in the same tissues take up excessive amount of Ca2+ during neuronal and mus ..read more

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Abstract figure legend Electrical slow waves recorded directly from ICC-MY of the Guinea pig gastric antrum. A, interval between slow waves: small amplitude spontaneous transient depolarizations (STDs) summate to generate upstroke. B, upstroke phase: activation of voltage-dependent Ca2+ conductance and Ca2+ entry. C, plateau phase: Ca2+ entry initiates Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release and activation of Ca2+-activated Cl− conductance (ANO1 or a Ca2+-dependent non-selective cation conductance). D, repolarization: when Ca2+ release from ER is exhausted, ANO1 is deactivated and cells repolarize to the i ..read more

The Journal of Physiology, EarlyView ..read more

Abstract Figure legend Fetal growth restriction (FGR) results in altered cardiac metabolism in the late gestation fetus. This includes reduced glucose and fatty acid transporter expression, which has downstream effects on molecular markers of metabolism, including lower abundance of mitochondria and complexes II and IV of the electron transport chain (ETC). Abstract Babies born with fetal growth restriction (FGR) are at higher risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases across the life course. The reduction in substrate supply to the developing fetus that causes FGR not only alters cardiac g ..read more

Abstract figure legend Binge drinking (BD) effects on the liver, pancreas and white adipose tissue (WAT) homeostasis in adolescent rats. BD-induced oxidative stress disrupts the balance in liver, pancreas and WAT of adolescent rats. In the liver, reactive oxygen species (ROS) reduce deacetylase sirtuin-1 (SIRT-1), AMP activated protein kinase (AMPK) and insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1) expression, leading to hepatic insulin resistance (IR). In the pancreas, ROS stimulate SIRT-1, which promotes insulin secretion together with high serum adipsin levels. The present hyperinsulinaemia indicat ..read more

Abstract figure legend Recruitment and subsequent modulation of motoneuron firing rates serve as two key mechanisms for the gradation of muscle force. Fast motoneurons (purple) have larger M-currents, conducted by KCNQ channels (Kv7.2: orange channels; Kv7.3: blue channels), than slow motoneurons (green). M-Currents (blue triangle) can adjust the range of inputs over which a motor pool is recruited, which may modulate the relative degree of movement precision or vigour. Abstract The size principle is a key mechanism governing the orderly recruitment of motor units and is believed to be depen ..read more

Abstract figure legend We optogenetically stimulated Purkinje cells (PCs) in various cerebellar lobules, while recording their activity and monitoring whisker kinematics. Excitation of PCs throughout the cerebellar hemispheres induced whisker movement, with the shortest latency and longest duration within the paramedian lobe. During spontaneous whisking behaviour, simple spike activity encoded whisker kinematics at different time scales showing a stronger correlation with velocity than with position. Abstract The whisker system is widely used as a model system for understanding sensorimotor ..read more

Abstract figure legend Breathing mild bouts of low oxygen air (i.e., acute intermittent hypoxia, AIH) has been shown to improve walking performance after a spinal cord injury. Evidence from spinally injured rodents indicates that AIH upregulates the synthesis of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a plasticity-promoting neural substrate implicated in motor learning. Gains in walking performance after AIH may be partially driven by enhancements in motor learning. We investigated the effects of repetitive AIH exposure on sensorimotor adaptation during a split-belt walking task. We provide initia ..read more

Abstract figure legend Investigating information approaches applied to molecular biology across diverse disciplines. Abstract Information concepts from physics, mathematics and computer science support many areas of research in biology. Their focus is on objective information, which provides correlations and patterns related to objects, processes, marks and signals. In these approaches only the quantitative aspects of the meaning of the information is relevant. In other areas of biology, ‘meaningful information’, which is subjective in nature, relies on the physiology of the organism's senso ..read more