Anti-5-HT polyclonal antibody

SITDC1, a candidate gene for tryptophan decarboxylase (TDC) in tomato, was the focus of this study because SITDC1 may play a role in the biosynthesis of serotonin (Hano et al., 2017), which is a novel functional ingredient because of its anti-obesity effects; further, its developmental roles are largely unknown. Tomato was transformed with SITDC1 (TDX lines) to demonstrate its enzymatic function, the developmental roles of SITDC1 and serotonin, and the possibility of molecular breeding. Transformation increased serotonin concentration three times or more in fruit without growth inhibition; in contrast, the concentration of tryptophan, which is the substrate of semtonin biosynthesis, decreased. The results showed the roles of SITDC1 and its usefulness in producing serotoninrich fruits. In addition, our transgenic studies indicated that tryptamine 5-hydroxylase might be a key enzyme in serotonin biosynthesis. Curling leaf margins were observed in TDX lines, which may result from a decrease in tryptophan concentration. The number of days from flowering to the breaker ripening stage decreased in TDX fruit and wild-type fruit treated with serotonin, and the expression of ripening-related genes was promoted in TDX fruit in real-time PCR and RNA-sequencing analyses, indicating the role of serotonin in ripening. Collectively, our results revealed the horticultural importance of TDC in fruit with its biochemical and physiological roles.

Collectively, the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN) and adjacent C1 neurons regulate breathing, circulation and the state of vigilance, but previous methods to manipulate the activity of these neurons have been insufficiently selective to parse out their relative roles. We hypothesize that RTN and C1 neurons regulate distinct aspects of breathing (e.g., frequency, amplitude, active expiration, sighing) and differ in their ability to produce arousal from sleep. Here we use optogenetics and a combination of viral vectors in adult male and female Th-Cre rats to transduce selectively RTN (Phox2b(+)/Nmb(+)) or C1 neurons (Phox2b(+)/Th+) with Channelrhodopsin-2. RTN photostimulation modestly increased the probability of arousal. RTN stimulation robustly increased breathing frequency and amplitude; it also triggered strong active expiration but not sighs. Consistent with these responses, RTN innervates the entire pontomedullary respiratory network, including expiratory premotor neurons in the caudal ventral respiratory group, but RTN has very limited projections to brainstem regions that regulate arousal (locus ceruleus, CGRP(+) parabrachial neurons). C1 neuron stimulation produced robust arousals and similar increases in breathing frequency and amplitude compared with RTN stimulation, but sighs were elicited and active expiration was absent. Unlike RTN, C1 neurons innervate the locus ceruleus, CGRP(+) processes within the parabrachial complex, and lack projections to caudal ventral respiratory group. In sum, stimulating C1 or RTN activates breathing robustly, but only RTN neuron stimulation produces active expiration, consistent with their role as central respiratory chemoreceptors. Conversely, C1 stimulation strongly stimulates ascending arousal systems and sighs, consistent with their postulated role in acute stress responses.