Aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase cells in the spinal cord:a potential origin of monoamines

Monoamine neurotransmitters include catecholamines and indoleamines. The most common catecholamines are do- pamine （DA）, noradrenaline （NA） and adrenaline, which are produced from phenylalanine and tyrosine; whereas the most common indoleamine is serotonin （5-hydroxytrypta mine, 5-HT）, which is produced from 5-hydroxytryptophan （5-HTP）.

The left-right side-specific endocrine signaling:implications for neurological deficits in stroke and neurodevelopmental disorders

Brain injury-induced neurological deficits typically develop on the contralateral side of the body and include abnormal posture,motor weakness,and spasticity.It is believed that the interruption of descending neural pathways that convey supraspinal commands to the motoneurons in the spinal cord is the main cause of these deficits.

Two-step production of monoamines in monoenzymatic cells in the spinal cord:a different control strategy of neurotransmitter supply?

Monoamine neurotransmitters play an important role in the modulation of sensory, motor and autonomic functions in the spinal cord. Although traditionally it is believed that in mammalian spinal cord, monoamine neurotransmitters mainly originate from the brain, accumulating evidence indicates that especially when the spinal cord is injured, they can also be produced in the spinal cord. In this review, I will present evidence for a possible pathway for two-step synthesis of dopamine and serotonin in the spinal cord. Published data from different sources and unpublished data from my own ongoing projects indicate that monoenzymatic cells expressing aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase（AADC）, tyrosine hydroxylase（TH） or tryptophan hydroxylase（TPH） are present in the spinal cord and that these TH and THP cells often lie in close proximity to AADC cells. Prompted by the above evidence, I hypothesize that dopamine and serotonin could be synthesized sequentially in two monoenzymatic cells in the spinal cord via a TH-AADC and a TPH-AADC cascade respectively. The monoamines synthesized through this pathway may compensate for lost neurotransmitters following spinal cord injury and also may play specific roles in the recovery of sensory, motor and autonomic functions.

Determination of Variance of Secondary Metabolites in Lettuces Grown Under Different Light Sources by Flow Injection Mass Spectrometric(FIMS)Fingerprinting and ANOVA-PCA

Lettuce(Lactuca sativa L.)is one of the most consumed vegetables in the world and different management practice can result in considerable variability of the secondary metabolites.Flow injection mass spectrometry(FIMS)combined with analysis of variance-principle component analysis(ANOVA-PCA)was used to study differences in the secondary metabolites originat-ing from different lighting conditions(Sunlight,white light,and florescent light)and lettuce varieties(Romaine and Lollo Rossa).Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution accurate mass spectrometry was used for putative marker compound identification.Quinic acid,caffeic acid,chlorogenic acid,L-chicoric acid,and quercetin malonyl gluco-side varied significantly for Romaine lettuce grown under different light conditions.The study showed that the combination of FIMS fingerprinting and ANOVA-PCA can be a useful tool for the characterization of the sources of variance in plant materials regarding to genetic,environmental,and management factors.