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- Adage, Tiziana, et al.
(författare)
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Hypothalamic, metabolic, and behavioral responses to pharmacological inhibition of CNS melanocortin signaling in rats
- 2001
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Ingår i: Journal of Neuroscience. - 0270-6474 .- 1529-2401. ; 21:10, s. 3639-3645
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The CNS melanocortin (MC) system is implicated as a mediator of the central effects of leptin, and reduced activity of the CNS MC system promotes obesity in both rodents and humans. Because activation of CNS MC receptors has direct effects on autonomic outflow and metabolism, we hypothesized that food intake- independent mechanisms contribute to development of obesity induced by pharmacological blockade of MC receptors in the brain and that changes in hypothalamic neuropeptidergic systems known to regulate weight gain [i. e., corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), cocaine- amphetamine- related transcript (CART), proopiomelanocortin (POMC), and neuropeptide Y (NPY)] would trigger this effect. Relative to vehicle- treated controls, third intracerebroventricular (i3vt) administration of the MC receptor antagonist SHU9119 to rats for 11 d doubled food and water intake (toward the end of treatment) and increased body weight (similar to 14%) and fat content (similar to 90%), hepatic glycogen content (similar to 40%), and plasma levels of cholesterol (similar to 48%), insulin (similar to 259%), glucagon (similar to 80%), and leptin (similar to 490%), whereas spontaneous locomotor activity and body temperature were reduced. Pair- feeding of i3vt SHU9119- treated animals to i3vt vehicle- treated controls normalized plasma levels of insulin, glucagon, and hepatic glycogen content, but only partially reversed the elevations of plasma cholesterol (similar to 31%) and leptin (similar to 104%) and body fat content (similar to 27%). Reductions in body temperature and locomotor activity induced by i3vt SHU9119 were not reversed by pair feeding, but rather were more pronounced. None of the effects found can be explained by peripheral action of the compound. The obesity effects occurred despite a lack in neuropeptide expression responses in the neuroanatomical range selected across the arcuate (i. e., CART, POMC, and NPY) and paraventricular (i. e., CRH) hypothalamus. The results indicate that reduced activity of the CNS MC pathway promotes fat deposition via both food intake- dependent and -independent mechanisms.
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| 4. |
- Andersson, M, et al.
(författare)
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cAMP response element-binding protein is required for dopamine-dependent gene expression in the intact but not the dopamine-denervated striatum
- 2001
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Ingår i: The Journal of Neuroscience. - 0270-6474 .- 1529-2401. ; 21:24, s. 9930-9943
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) is believed to play a pivotal role in dopamine (DA) receptor-mediated nuclear signaling and neuroplasticity. Here we demonstrate that the significance of CREB for gene expression depends on the experimental paradigm. We compared the role of CREB in two different but related models: L-DOPA administration to unilaterally 6-hydroxydopamine lesioned rats, and cocaine administration to neurologically intact animals. Antisense technology was used to produce a local knockdown of CREB in the lateral caudate-putamen, a region that mediates the dyskinetic or stereotypic manifestations associated with L-DOPA or cocaine treatment, respectively. In intact rats, CREB antisense reduced both basal and cocaine-induced expression of c-Fos, FosB/ΔFosB, and prodynorphin mRNA. In the DA-denervated striatum, CREB was not required for L-DOPA to induce these gene products, nor did CREB contribute considerably to DNA binding activity at cAMP responsive elements (CREs) and CRE-like enhancers. ΔFosB-related proteins and JunD were the main contributors to both CRE and AP-1 DNA-protein complexes in L-DOPA-treated animals. In behavioral studies, intrastriatal CREB knockdown caused enhanced activity scores in intact control animals and exacerbated the dyskinetic effects of acute L-DOPA treatment in 6-OHDA-lesioned animals. These data demonstrate that CREB is not required for the development of L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia in hemiparkinsonian rats. Moreover, our results reveal an unexpected alteration of nuclear signaling mechanisms in the parkinsonian striatum treated with L-DOPA, where AP-1 transcription factors appear to supersede CREB in the activation of CRE-containing genes.
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| 7. |
- Birznieks, Ingvars, et al.
(författare)
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Encoding of direction of fingertip forces by human tactile afferents
- 2001
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Ingår i: Journal of Neuroscience. - : Society for Neuroscience. - 0270-6474 .- 1529-2401. ; 21:20, s. 8222-8237
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In most manipulations, we use our fingertips to apply time-varying forces to the target object in controlled directions. Here we used microneurography to assess how single tactile afferents encode the direction of fingertip forces at magnitudes, rates, and directions comparable to those arising in everyday manipulations. Using a flat stimulus surface, we applied forces to a standard site on the fingertip while recording impulse activity in 196 tactile afferents with receptive fields distributed over the entire terminal phalanx. Forces were applied in one of five directions: normal force and forces at a 20 degrees angle from the normal in the radial, distal, ulnar, or proximal directions. Nearly all afferents responded, and the responses in most slowly adapting (SA)-I, SA-II, and fast adapting (FA)-I afferents were broadly tuned to a preferred direction of force. Among afferents of each type, the preferred directions were distributed in all angular directions with reference to the stimulation site, but not uniformly. The SA-I population was biased for tangential force components in the distal direction, the SA-II population was biased in the proximal direction, and the FA-I population was biased in the proximal and radial directions. Anisotropic mechanical properties of the fingertip and the spatial relationship between the receptive field center of the afferent and the stimulus site appeared to influence the preferred direction in a manner dependent on afferent type. We conclude that tactile afferents from the whole terminal phalanx potentially contribute to the encoding of direction of fingertip forces similar to those that occur when subjects manipulate objects under natural conditions.
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| 9. |
- Büki, Andras, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Cytochrome c release and caspase activation in traumatic axonal injury
- 2000
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Ingår i: Journal of Neuroscience. - : Society for Neuroscience. - 0270-6474 .- 1529-2401. ; 20:8, s. 2825-2834
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Axonal injury is a feature of traumatic brain injury (TBI) contributing to both morbidity and mortality. The traumatic axon injury (TAI) results from focal perturbations of the axolemma, allowing for calcium influx triggering local intraaxonal cytoskeletal and mitochondrial damage. This mitochondrial damage has been posited to cause local bioenergetic failure, leading to axonal failure and disconnection; however, this mitochondrial damage may also lead to the release of cytochrome c (cyto-c), which then activates caspases with significant adverse intraaxonal consequences. In the current communication, we examine this possibility. Rats were subjected to TBI, perfused with aldehydes at 15-360 min after injury, and processed for light microscopic (LM) and electron microscopic (EM) single-labeling immunohistochemistry to detect extramitochondrially localized cytochrome c (cyto-c) and the signature protein of caspase-3 activation (120 kDa breakdown product of alpha-spectrin) in TAI. Combinations of double-labeling fluorescent immunohistochemistry (D-FIHC) were also used to demonstrate colocalization of calpain activation with cyto-c release and caspase-3-induction. In foci of TAI qualitative-quantitative LM demonstrated a parallel, significant increase in cyto-c release and caspase-3 activation over time after injury. EM analysis demonstrated that cyto-c and caspase-3 immunoreactivity were associated with mitochondrial swelling-disruption in sites of TAI. Furthermore, D-IFHC revealed a colocalization of calpain activation, cyto-c release, and caspase-3 induction in these foci, which also revealed progressive TAI. The results demonstrate that cyto-c and caspase-3 participate in the terminal processes of TAI. This suggests that those factors that play a role in the apoptosis in the neuronal soma are also major contributors to the demise of the axonal appendage.
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