Young primates have relatively large hands and feet for their body size, perhaps enhancing grasping ability. We test the hypothesis that selection for improved grasping ability is responsible for these scaling trends by examining the ontogeny of…
Axonal transport defects are an early pathology occurring within the retinofugal projection of the DBA/2J mouse model of glaucoma. Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons and terminals are detectable after transport is affected, yet little is known about…
Although MSCs have been widely recognized to have therapeutic potential in the repair of injured or diseased tissues, it remains unclear how functional activities of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are influenced by the surrounding inflammatory milieu…
Initial identification of osteoactivin (OA)/glycoprotein non-melanoma clone B (gpnmb) was demonstrated in an osteopetrotic rat model, where OA expression was increased threefold in mutant bones, compared to normal. OA mRNA and protein expression…
Nearly 50% of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) die of metastases or locoregional recurrence. Metastasis is mediated by cancer cell adhesion, migration, and invasion. Osteoactivin (OA) overexpression plays a role in metastases in…
As the smallest living primate, the mouse lemur is a suitable model for reconstructing the locomotor mechanisms by which primate ancestors might have responded to the challenges of an arboreal environment. In this study, we tested the effects of…
At present, there are no studies that have established a microRNA (miRNA)-based signature profile in patients with radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (rad-axial SpA), and we hypothesized that these patients may have aberrantly expressed circulating…
Micro ribonucleic acid (microRNA) regulation and expression has become an emerging field in determining the mechanisms regulating a variety of inflammation-mediated diseases. Several studies have focused on specific microRNAs that are differentially…
UNLABELLED: Accumulating evidence over the last 40years suggests that silicate from dietary as well as silicate-containing biomaterials is beneficial to bone formation. However, the exact biological role(s) of silicate on bone cells are still unclear…
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common whole-joint disease and is characterized by progressive loss of the cartilage matrix. Matrix metallopeptidase-13 (MMP-13) is a highly active and an abundantly expressed protease in OA cartilage and chondrocytes…
The high prevalence of noise-induced and age-related hearing loss in the general population has warranted the use of animal models to study the etiology of these pathologies. Quick and accurate auditory threshold determination is a prerequisite for…
Intrinsic plasticity has emerged as an important mechanism regulating neuronal excitability and output under physiological and pathological conditions. Here, we report a novel form of intrinsic plasticity. Using perforated patch clamp recordings, we…
Osteoprogenitor cells contribute to the development and maintenance of skeletal tissues. Bats are unique model taxa whose cellular processes are poorly understood, especially in regards to skeletal biology. Forelimb bones of bats, unlike those of…
Osteoactivin is a heavily glycosylated protein shown to have a role in bone remodeling. Previous studies from our lab have shown that mutation in Osteoactivin enhances osteoclast differentiation but inhibits their function. To date, a classical…
The earliest cetaceans were interpreted as semi-aquatic based on the presence of thickened bones and stable oxygen isotopes in tooth enamel. However, the origin of aquatic behaviors in cetacean relatives (e.g., raoellids, anthracotheres) remains…
Mechanisms for passively coordinating forelimb movements and flight feather abduction and adduction have been described separately from both in vivo and ex vivo studies. Skeletal coordination has been identified as a way for birds to simplify the…
Safe, efficient liquid feeding in infant mammals requires the central coordination of oropharyngeal structures innervated by multiple cranial and spinal nerves. The importance of laryngeal sensation and central sensorimotor integration in this system…
Acoustic communication signals carry information related to the types of social interactions by means of their "acoustic context," the sequencing and temporal emission pattern of vocalizations. Here we describe responses to natural vocal sequences in…
Locomotion is precarious in an arboreal habitat, where supports can vary in both diameter and level of compliance. Several previous studies have evaluated the influence of substrate diameter on the locomotor performance of arboreal quadrupeds. The…
BACKGROUND: In recent years large bibliographic databases have made much of the published literature of biology available for searches. However, the capabilities of the search engines integrated into these databases for text-based bibliographic…
The evolution of baleen constituted a major evolutionary change that made it possible for baleen whales to reach enormous body sizes while filter feeding on tiny organisms and migrating over tremendous distances. Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus)…
Synaptic inhibition plays a fundamental role in the neural computation of the interaural level difference (ILD), an important cue for the localization of high-frequency sound. Here, we studied the inhibitory synaptic currents in the chicken posterior…
UNLABELLED: Inhibition plays an important role in shaping responses to stimuli throughout the CNS, including in the inferior colliculus (IC), a major hub in both ascending and descending auditory pathways. Subdividing GABAergic cells has furthered…
The potential application of GPNMB/OA as a therapeutic target for lung cancer will require a greater understanding of the impact of GPNMB/OA ectodomain (ECD) protein shedding into tumor tissues. Thus, in this work we characterized GPNMB/OA expression…
While several studies have investigated mouse ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) emitted by isolated pups or by males in mating contexts, studies of behavioral contexts other than mating and vocalization categories other than USVs have been limited. By…
The etiology of tinnitus is known to be diverse in the human population. An appropriate animal model of tinnitus should incorporate this pathological diversity. Previous studies evaluating the effect of acoustic over exposure (AOE) have found that…
Perceptual learning (training-induced performance improvement) can be elicited by task-irrelevant stimulus exposure in humans. In contrast, task-irrelevant stimulus exposure in animals typically disrupts perception in juveniles while causing little…
Nearly all living artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates) possess a derived cranial arterial pattern that is highly distinctive from most other mammals. Foremost among a suite of atypical arterial configurations is the functional and anatomical…
