e., electrotaxis). In tissues, physiological

chemical gradients and dcEF can potentially co-exist and the two guiding mechanisms may direct cell migration in a coordinated manner. Recently, microfluidic devices that can precisely configure chemical gradients or dcEF have been increasingly developed and used for chemotaxis and electrotaxis studies. However, a microfluidic device that can configure controlled co-existing chemical gradients and dcEF that would allow quantitative cell migration analysis in complex electrochemical guiding environments is not available. In this study, we developed a polydimethylsiloxane-based microfluidic device that can generate better controlled single or co-existing chemical gradients and click here dcEF. Using this device, we showed chemotactic migration of T cells toward a chemokine CCL19 gradient or electrotactic migration toward the cathode of an applied dcEF. Furthermore, T cells migrated more strongly toward the cathode of a dcEF in the presence of a competing CCL19 gradient, suggesting the higher electrotactic attraction. Taken together, the developed microfluidic device offers a new experimental tool for studying chemical and electrical guidance for cell migration, and our current results with T cells

provide interesting new insights of immune cell migration in complex guiding environments. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org.elibrary.einstein.yu.edu/10.1063/1.4718721]“
“Although it is well-known that defective CX-6258 signaling of the 5-HT system in the brain and stressful stimuli can cause psychological disorders, their combined effects on male male aggression and sexual attractiveness remain unknown. Our research aimed at examining such effects using tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (Tph2) knockout male mice vs. a rat- or rat scent-based chronic stress

model. Tph2(+/+) and Tph2(-/-) male mice were placed individually into the rat home cage (rat), a cage containing soiled rat bedding (rat scent) or a cage containing fresh bedding (control) for 5h every other day for 56 consecutive days. In Tph2(+/+) male selleck chemicals mice, rat-exposure decreased male male aggression and sexual attractiveness of urine odor relative to either rat scent-exposure or control; and rat scent-exposure decreased aggression rather than sexual attractiveness of urine odor compared with control. However, such dose-dependent and long-lasting behavioral inhibitory effects vanished in Tph2(-/-) male mice. RT-PCR assay further revealed that putative regulatory genes, such as AR, ER alpha and GluR4 in the prefrontal cortex, and TrkB-Tc and 5-HTR1A in the hippocampus, were down-regulated at the mRNA level in either rat- or rat scent-exposed Tph2(+/+) male mice, but partially in the Tph2(-/-) ones.