The present invention is directed to antibodies and antigen binding fragments thereof having binding specificity for PACAP. The antibodies and antigen binding fragments thereof comprise the sequences of the V.sub.H, V.sub.L, and CDR polypeptides described herein, and the polynucleotides encoding them. Antibodies and antigen binding fragments described herein bind to and/or compete for binding to the same linear or conformational epitope(s) on human PACAP as an anti-PACAP antibody. The invention contemplates conjugates of anti-PACAP antibodies and binding fragments thereof conjugated to one or more functional or detectable moieties. Methods of making said anti-PACAP antibodies and antigen binding fragments thereof are also contemplated. Other embodiments of the invention contemplate using anti-PACAP antibodies, and binding fragments thereof, for the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of diseases and disorders associated with PACAP and conditions where antagonism of PACAP-related activities, such as vasodilation, photophobia, mast cell degranulation, and/or neuronal activation, would be therapeutically beneficial.

A glucose dehydrogenase having modified electron transfer properties, and a glucose measurement method and measuring kit using the glucose dehydrogenase are provided. Provided are a glucose dehydrogenase having at least 1, 2 or 3 amino acid substitutions, for example, amino acid substitution with a polar amino acid or alanine, in the region corresponding to the 457th to 477th position in SEQ ID NO: 1 of a glucose dehydrogenase having homology with SEQ ID NO: 1, a glucose measurement method, a measurement reagent kit and a sensor using the glucose dehydrogenase. The electron transfer properties of the glucose dehydrogenase of the present invention is modified and can be used in measuring glucose in the presence of a mediator with reduced concentration or in the absence of a mediator, and can be used, for example, in continuous glucose measurement.

Methods and compositions for simulating a dermal compartment of skin are disclosed. In one aspect of the invention, methods of producing such a skin model include the steps of admixing a collagenous protein source, a blood protein source, and dermal cells in an aqueous carrier, and then allowing the resulting mixture to solidify to produce a gel. In one technique, at least a portion of the mixture, e.g., the collagenous protein source is first heated and then cooled to induce gelation. For example, the mixture can be heated to at least 50 degrees C. and then cooled to temperature below 5 degrees C. to induce gelation.

The present invention relates to methods for production of undifferentiated or differentiated embryonic stem cell aggregate suspension cultures from undifferentiated or differentiated embryonic stem cell single cell suspensions and methods of differentiation thereof.

A real time and quantitative method of measuring traction force of living cells include the following procedures. Place AT-cut and BT-cut quartz crystals of the same frequency, surface morphology and/or modified with the same cell adhesion molecules in petri dishes or detection cells; add the cells to the petri dishes or detection cells, the cell traction force at arbitrary time t during adhesion of the cells or under different internal/external environmental stimulations is estimated by the following equation: ΔS.sub.t=(K.sub.AT−K.sub.BT).sup.−1[t.sub.q.sup.ATΔf.sub.t.sup.AT/fr.sup.AT−tq.sup.BTΔf.sub.t.sup.BT/fr.sup.BT]. The method can be used to track the dynamic changes of cells generated force during the adhesion of cells and under different internal/external environmental stimulations, such as the effects of drugs. The drugs can be added before or after the adhesion of the cells. This method is suitable for all adherent cells, including primary cells and passage cells.

Disclosed herein are methods of treating neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia (SCZ), bipolar disorder or depression. The methods entail inhibiting expression of miR-219 or overexpressing TLX thereby promoting proliferation of neural stem cells (NSCs) in the subjects.

To provide a method for producing a horseshoe crab recombinant Factor C. The horseshoe crab recombinant Factor C is produced through expression thereof by use of mammalian cells such as CHO DG44 and HEK293 as host cells.

An observation device includes a stage, an imaging optical system that includes an objective lens, a detection section that includes displacement sensors that detect a vertical position of a cultivation container, an imaging optical system controller that controls the imaging optical system driving section to move the objective lens in an optical axis direction on the basis of the vertical position of the cultivation container, and a horizontal driving section that moves the stage in a main scanning direction and a sub-scanning direction and reciprocates the stage in the main scanning direction, in which the detection section detects the vertical position of the cultivation container at a forward position in a movement direction of the observation region with reference to the position of the observation region of the imaging optical system with respect to the cultivation container.

The present invention is directed to antibodies and antigen binding fragments thereof having binding specificity for PACAP. The antibodies and antigen binding fragments thereof comprise the sequences of the V.sub.H, V.sub.L, and CDR polypeptides described herein, and the polynucleotides encoding them. Antibodies and antigen binding fragments described herein bind to and/or compete for binding to the same linear or conformational epitope(s) on human PACAP as an anti-PACAP antibody. The invention contemplates conjugates of anti-PACAP antibodies and binding fragments thereof conjugated to one or more functional or detectable moieties. Methods of making said anti-PACAP antibodies and antigen binding fragments thereof are also contemplated. Other embodiments of the invention contemplate using anti-PACAP antibodies, and binding fragments thereof, for the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of diseases and disorders associated with PACAP and conditions where antagonism of PACAP-related activities, such as vasodilation, photophobia, mast cell degranulation, and/or neuronal activation, would be therapeutically beneficial.

The present invention is directed to antibodies and antigen binding fragments thereof having binding specificity for PACAP. The antibodies and antigen binding fragments thereof comprise the sequences of the V.sub.H, V.sub.L, and CDR polypeptides described herein, and the polynucleotides encoding them. Antibodies and antigen binding fragments described herein bind to and/or compete for binding to the same linear or conformational epitope(s) on human PACAP as an anti-PACAP antibody. The invention contemplates conjugates of anti-PACAP antibodies and binding fragments thereof conjugated to one or more functional or detectable moieties. Methods of making said anti-PACAP antibodies and antigen binding fragments thereof are also contemplated. Other embodiments of the invention contemplate using anti-PACAP antibodies, and binding fragments thereof, for the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of diseases and disorders associated with PACAP and conditions where antagonism of PACAP-related activities, such as vasodilation, photophobia, mast cell degranulation, and/or neuronal activation, would be therapeutically beneficial.