Vascular RAGE transports oxytocin into the brain to elicit its maternal bonding behaviour in mice

金沢大学医薬保健研究域医学系Oxytocin sets the stage for childbirth by initiating uterine contractions, lactation and maternal bonding behaviours. Mice lacking secreted oxcytocin (Oxt -/-, Cd38 -/-) or its receptor (Oxtr -/-) fail to nurture. Normal maternal behaviour is restored by peripheral oxcytocin replacement in Oxt -/- and Cd38 -/-, but not Oxtr -/- mice, implying that circulating oxcytocin crosses the blood-brain barrier. Exogenous oxcytocin also has behavioural effects in humans. However, circulating polypeptides are typically excluded from the brain. We show that oxcytocin is transported into the brain by receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) on brain capillary endothelial cells. The increases in oxcytocin in the brain which follow exogenous administration are lost in Ager -/- male mice lacking RAGE, and behaviours characteristic to abnormalities in oxcytocin signalling are recapitulated in Ager -/- mice, including deficits in maternal bonding and hyperactivity. Our findings show that RAGE-mediated transport is critical to the behavioural actions of oxcytocin associated with parenting and social bonding.3082047

Smart space laboratory project: Toward the next generation computing environment

Abstract — This paper describes the Smart Space Lab (SSLab) project toward the next generation computing environment, “Smart Space. ” As numerous types of networked appliances, such as A/V devices, home appliances, or sensors, are connected to each other via both wired and wireless networks, computational intelligence can be regarded as being distributed and embedded into users ’ surrounding space, rather than on a specific device such as users ’ PCs or P-DAs. We call such a space with embedded computation “Smart Space. ” In Smart Space, users can have their computing environment relying on not only computation of their carrying devices, but one in Smart Space. Toward the realization of Smart Space, SS-Lab Project is now addressing three research issues, (A)physical structure of Smart Space, (B)network architecture with support of dynamism and heterogeneity, and (C)adaptive middleware architecture and applications. I

Vascular RAGE transports oxytocin into the brain to elicit its maternal bonding behaviour in mice

Yasuhiko Yamamoto et al. show that oxytocin is transported into the brain by the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) on the blood-brain barrier. This study explains how circulating oxytocin crosses the blood-brain barrier, which is important to manifest oxytocin’s maternal bonding effects