These authors contributed equally to the study.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Kisspeptin neuropeptides are encoded by the Kiss1 gene and play a critical role in the regulation of the mammalian reproductive axis. Kiss1 neurones are found in two locations in the rodent hypothalamus: one in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) and another in the RP3V region, which includes the anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV). Detailed mapping of the fibre distribution of Kiss1 neurones will help with our understanding of the action of these neurones in other regions of the brain. We have generated a transgenic mouse in which the Kiss1 coding region is disrupted by a CRE-GFP transgene so that expression of the CRE recombinase protein is driven from the Kiss1 promoter. As expected, mutant mice of both sexes are sterile with hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism and do not show the normal rise in luteinising hormone after gonadectomy. Mutant female mice do not develop mature Graafian follicles or form corpora lutea consistent with ovulatory failure. Mutant male mice have low blood testosterone levels and impaired spermatogenesis beyond the meiosis stage. Breeding Kiss-CRE heterozygous mice with CRE-activated tdTomato reporter mice allows fluorescence visualisation of Kiss1 neurones in brain slices. Approximately 80-90% of tdTomato positive neurones in the ARC were colabelled with kisspeptin and expression of tdTomato in the AVPV region was sexually dimorphic, with higher expression in females than males. A small number of tdTomato-labelled neurones was also found in other locations, including the lateral septum, the anterodorsal preoptic nucleus, the amygdala, the dorsomedial and ventromedial hypothalamic nuclei, the periaquaductal grey, and the mammillary nucleus. Three dimensional visualisation of Kiss1 neurones and fibres by CLARITY processing of whole brains showed an increase in ARC expression during puberty and higher numbers of Kiss1 neurones in the caudal region of the ARC compared to the rostral region. ARC Kiss1 neurones sent fibre projections to several hypothalamic regions, including rostrally to the periventricular and pre-optic areas and to the lateral hypothalamus.Key words: Kiss-CRE, transgenic, mouse, tdTomato, CLARITY, neuronal distribution doi: 10.1111/jne.12435Kisspeptins are a set of overlapping neuropeptides that are required for activation of the mammalian reproductive axis at puberty and maintenance of fertility in adults (1,2). In mice, kisspeptins are derived from a 126 amino acid precursor protein to give shorter peptides of 52, 14, 13 and 10 amino acids that all contain the same carboxy-terminal sequence. They have a potent action on gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurones to stimulate GnRH release and thereby the secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinising hormone (LH) from the anterior pituitary. Kisspeptins not only medi...

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Bioelectronic medicine is driving the need for neuromorphic microcircuits that integrate raw nervous stimuli and respond identically to biological neurons. However, designing such circuits remains a challenge. Here we estimate the parameters of highly nonlinear conductance models and derive the ab initio equations of intracellular currents and membrane voltages embodied in analog solid-state electronics. By configuring individual ion channels of solid-state neurons with parameters estimated from large-scale assimilation of electrophysiological recordings, we successfully transfer the complete dynamics of hippocampal and respiratory neurons in silico. The solid-state neurons are found to respond nearly identically to biological neurons under stimulation by a wide range of current injection protocols. The optimization of nonlinear models demonstrates a powerful method for programming analog electronic circuits. This approach offers a route for repairing diseased biocircuits and emulating their function with biomedical implants that can adapt to biofeedback.

N-Methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptors (NMDARs) contribute to neural development, plasticity and survival, but they are also linked with neurodegeneration. NMDARs at synapses are activated by coincident glutamate release and depolarization. NMDARs distal to synapses can sometimes be recruited by 'spill-over' of glutamate during high-frequency synaptic stimulation or when glutamate uptake is compromised, and this influences the shape of NMDAR-mediated postsynaptic responses. In substantia nigra dopamine neurons, activation of NMDARs beyond the synapse during different frequencies of presynaptic stimulation has not been explored, even though excitatory afferents from the subthalamic nucleus show a range of firing frequencies, and these frequencies change in human and experimental Parkinson's disease. This study reports that high-frequency stimulation (80 Hz/ 200 ms) evoked NMDAR-excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) that were larger and longer lasting than those evoked by single stimuli at low frequency (0.1 Hz). MK-801, which irreversibly blocked NMDAR-EPSCs activated during 0.1-Hz stimulation, left a proportion of NMDAR-EPSCs that could be activated by 80-Hz stimulation and that may represent activity of NMDARs distal to synapses. TBOA, which blocks glutamate transporters, significantly increased NMDAR-EPSCs in response to 80-Hz stimulation, particularly when metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) were also blocked, indicating that recruitment of NMDARs distal to synapses is regulated by glutamate transporters and mGluRs. These regulatory mechanisms may be essential in the substantia nigra for restricting glutamate diffusion from synaptic sites and keeping NMDAR-EPSCs in dopamine neurons relatively small and fast. Failure of glutamate transporters may contribute to the declining health of dopamine neurons during pathological conditions.

A new n.m.r. indicator, 1,2-bis-(2-[1-(hydroxycarbony)ethyl- (hydroxycarbonylmethyl)]amino-5-fluorophenoxy)ethane (DiMe-5FBAPTA), with a higher affinity for calcium (apparent Kd 46 nM, pH 7.2, 30 degrees C) than the parent 5FBAPTA chelator (Kd 537 nM, pH 7.1, 30 degrees C) has been used to measure the cardiac intracellular free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i). DiMe-5FBAPTA was loaded into Langendorff-perfused ferret hearts maintained at 30 degrees C using the acetoxymethyl ester (AM) derivative. The intracellular concentration required to achieve an adequate signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio (> 10:1) for the n.m.r. spectra caused a similar reduction in developed pressure to that obtained using 5FBAPTA-AM. The DiMe-5FBAPTA was used to estimate [Ca2+]i in diastole, through the calcium transient and at rest in the presence of the slow calcium channel blocker diltiazem. At a pacing frequency of 1.0 Hz, end-diastolic [Ca2+]i was 198 +/- 30 nM (n = 9), and reducing the pacing frequency to 0.2 Hz lowered [Ca2+]i to 89 +/- 13 nM (n = 5). Perfusion with diltiazem (100 microM) for 60 min lowered [Ca2+]i to 10 +/- 1 nM (n = 4) in unpaced hearts and to 94 +/- 24 nM (n = 4) in hearts paced at 1.0 Hz. The [Ca2+]i transient measured with DiMe-5FBAPTA was sharper and delayed compared with the transient measured previously with 5FBAPTA. Co-loading the two indicators provided evidence that the indicator with the higher Kd had a dominant effect on the end-diastolic [Ca2+]i. The lower values for end-diastolic [Ca2+]i obtained with DiMe-5FBAPTA are consistent with fluorescent indicator measurements. These observations suggest that perturbations of [Ca2+]i caused by the new indicator are less than those induced by 5FBAPTA. DiMe-5FBAPTA therefore represents a useful step in the development of 19F-n.m.r. calcium indicators.

Background3D cell cultures are emerging as more physiologically meaningful alternatives to monolayer cultures for many biological applications. They are attractive because they more closely mimic in vivo morphology, especially when co-cultured with stromal fibroblasts.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe compared the efficacy of 3 different 3D cell culture systems; collagen I, low attachment culture vessels and a modification of Fibrolife®, a specialised humanised cell culture medium devoid of animal-derived components, using breast cancer cell lines representative of the different molecular subtypes of breast cancer, cultured alone or with human mammary fibroblasts with a view to developing matrix-free humanised systems. 3D collagen I culture supported the growth of a range of breast cancer cell lines. By modifying the composition of Fibrolife® to epiFL, matrix-free cell culture was possible. During sequential transfer to epiFL breast cancer cells gradually detached from the flask, growing progressively as spheroids. Phenotype was stable and reversible with cells remaining actively proliferating and easily accessible throughout culture. They could also be revived from frozen stocks. To achieve co-culture with fibroblasts in epiFL required use of low attachment culture vessels instead of standard plastic as fibroblasts remained adherent in epiFL. Here, cancer cell spheroids were allowed to form before adding fibroblasts. Immunohistochemical examination showed fibroblasts scattered throughout the epithelial spheroid, not dissimilar to the relationship of tumour stroma in human breast cancer.ConclusionsBecause of its ease of handling, matrix-free 3D cell culture may be a useful model to study the influence of fibroblasts on breast cancer epithelial cells with use of epiFL culture medium taking this a step further towards a fully humanised 3D model. This methodology could be applied to other types of cancer cell lines, making this a versatile technique for cancer researchers wishing to use in vitro systems that better reflect cancer in vivo.

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are ubiquitously expressed in the mammalian brain and are essential for neuronal development, survival and plasticity. GluN2 subunit composition has a profound effect on the properties of NMDARs. In substantia nigra dopaminergic (SNc-DA) neurons, pharmacological experiments suggest that the relatively rare GluN2D subunits form functional synaptic and extrasynaptic NMDARs. Given the importance of establishing this point, mice lacking the GluN2D subunit (Grin2D-null) were used in this study to further explore the contribution of the GluN2D subunit to NMDAR responses. Significantly less DQP-1105-sensitive NMDAR-EPSC and significantly more ifenprodil-sensitive NMDAR-EPSC was observed in SNc-DA neurons from Grin2D-null mice, indicating that in these animals a small population of synaptic GluN2D subunits is replaced with GluN2B. Significantly larger currents were seen in response to higher concentrations (1–10 mM) of NMDA in SNc-DA neurons from Grin2D-null mice, as well as significantly more desensitization: these data are consistent with the presence of GluN2D-containing whole-cell NMDARs in SNc-DA neurons, with low conductance and little desensitization. Brief applications of NMDA evoked responses that were significantly less sensitive to DQP-1105 in slices from Grin2D-null mice. Tonic NMDAR activity in response to ambient extracellular glutamate, determined by the sensitivity of tonic current to D-AP5 (50 μM), was significantly less in SNc-DA neurons from Grin2D-null mice. In the presence of the glutamate transporter blocker TBOA (30 μM), the D-AP5-sensitive current was also significantly less in Grin2D-null mice. Taken together, these data support the evidence for GluN2D subunit expression in functional NMDARs at both synaptic and extrasynaptic locations in SNc-DA neurons.

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