A complete understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of learning and memory continues to elude neuroscientists. Although many important discoveries have been made, the question of how memories are encoded and maintained at the molecular level remains. So far, this issue has been framed within the context of one of the most dominant concepts in…

Terms to be familiar with before you start to solve the test: Southern blotting, Western blotting, restriction endonucleases, agarose gel electrophoresis, nitrocellulose filter, molecular hybridization, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, proto-oncogene, c-abl, Src-homology domains, tyrosine protein kinase, nuclear localization signal, cDNA,…

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are a family of chromatin remodeling enzymes that restrict access of transcription factors to the DNA, thereby repressing gene expression. In contrast, histone acetyltransferases (HATs) relax the chromatin structure allowing for an active chromatin state and promoting gene transcription. Accumulating data have…

The concepts of protein purification are often taught in undergraduate biology and biochemistry lectures and reinforced during laboratory exercises; however, very few reported activities allow students to directly gain experience using modern protein purification instruments, such as Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography (FPLC). This laboratory…

Drugs of abuse cause changes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and associated regions that impair inhibitory control over drug-seeking. Breaking the contingencies between drug-associated cues and the delivery of the reward during extinction learning reduces rates of relapse. Here we used vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) to induce targeted synaptic…

A signature of life is that biological molecules occur as a single stereoisomer with respect to each chiral center, and this is echoed in the structures of biological polymers. Thus, circular dichroism (CD) has emerged as a hallmark of biomolecular structures. The tangible and familiar phenomenon of raw egg white's conversion from transparent…

Over the past decade, mechanistic cross-linking probes have been used to study protein-protein interactions in natural product biosynthetic pathways. This approach is highly interdisciplinary, combining elements of protein biochemistry, organic chemistry, and computational docking. Herein, we described the development of an experiment to engage…

The metabolic fitness (MF) is a component of athletes' physical conditioning. This study aims to investigate the effects of quercetin supplementation on Turkish Junior athletes' lipid and protein metabolism relating to MF after one month classic boxing training. Totally 20 voluntary junior male athletes were separated into two equal groups as the…

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays an important role in activity-dependent synaptic plasticity. Altered blood BDNF levels have been frequently identified in people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). There are however wide discrepancies in the evidence. Therefore, we performed the present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed at…

Mechanistic target of rapamcyin (mTOR) is a central player in cell growth throughout the organism. However, mTOR takes on an additional, more specialized role in the developed neuron, where it regulates the protein synthesis-dependent, plastic changes underlying learning and memory. mTOR is sequestered in two multiprotein complexes (mTORC1 and…

Acknowledgement appears at the forefront of the high-stakes academic genre of thesis/dissertation writing. Previous research shows the generic structure of acknowledgements written by native Persian postgraduate students contains a 'thanking-God move', absent in native English speakers' acknowledgements. In an approximate replication of Hyland's…

Evidence indicates that broad, nonspecific histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition enhances learning and memory, however, the contribution of the various HDACs to specific forms of learning is incompletely understood. Here, we show that the Class I HDAC inhibitor, RGFP963, enhances consolidation of cued fear extinction. However, RGFP966, a strong…

Objective: This study sought to determine the feasibility of (a) engaging college students in experiential learning through a 10-day whole foods plant-based diet intervention, (b) bringing pertinence to the course topics that had an emphasis on chronic conditions and (c) understanding how the intervention influenced students' perceptions and…

To foster medical students to become physicians who will be lifelong independent learners and critical thinkers with healthy skepticism and provide high-quality patient care guided by the best evidence, teaching of evidence-based medicine (EBM) has become an important component of medical education. Currently, the teaching and learning of…

These experiments examined the relationship between the neurotrophic factor fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) and individual differences in the expression of conditioned fear. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that rats naturally expressing low levels of contextual or cued fear have higher levels of hippocampal FGF2 relative to rats that express…