Restorative/protective therapies to restore dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) are greatly needed to effectively change the debilitating course of Parkinson's disease. In this study, we tested the therapeutic potential of a neurogenic neurosteroid, allopregnanolone, in the restoration of the components of the nigrostriatal pathway in MPTP-lesioned mice by measuring st...

Nitric oxide is unconstrained by cell membranes and can therefore act along a broad distance as a volume transmitter. Spillover of nitric oxide between neurons may have a major impact on central nervous system diseases and particularly on neurodegeneration. There is evidence whereby communication between nitrergic and dopaminergic systems plays an essential role in the control of the nigrostria...

We have studied the effects of adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase on the phosphorylative and functional modification of bovine adrenal tyrosine hydroxylase. Incubation of partially purified tyrosine hydroxylase with cAMP-dependent protein kinase in the presence of [gamma32P]ATP and 5 micron cAMP led to a 3- to 5-fold activation of tyrosine hydroxylase and to incorpora...

We have studied the effects of adenosine 3’:5’-monophosphate (CAMP)-dependent protein kinase on the phosphorylative and functional modification of bovine adrenal tyrosine hydroxylase. Incubation of partially purified tyrosine hydroxylase with CAMP-dependent protein kinase in the presence of [y-32P]ATP and 5 pM CAMP led to a 3to B-fold activation of tyrosine hydroxylase and to incorporation of [...

Choline acetyltransferase and tyrosine hydroxylase serve as enzyme markers for preganglionic and postganglionic sympathetic nerves, respectively. There is abundant evidence that experimental conditions which increase the activity of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system produce an increase in the activity of neuronal tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine fl-hydroxylase 11. The activity of these...

BACKGROUND The periaqueductal gray region (PAG) is one of several brain areas identified to be vulnerable to structural and functional change following peripheral nerve injury. Sciatic nerve constriction injury (CCI) triggers neuropathic pain and three distinct profiles of changes in complex behaviours, which include altered social and sleep-wake behaviours as well as changes in endocrine funct...

We used a knock-in strategy to generate two lines of mice expressing Cre recombinase under the transcriptional control of the dopamine transporter promoter (DAT-cre mice) or the serotonin transporter promoter (SERT-cre mice). In DAT-cre mice, immunocytochemical staining of adult brains for the dopamine-synthetic enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase and for Cre recombinase revealed that virtually all dop...

This chapter describes the aromatic L‐amino acids tryptophan and tyrosine and the effects on tyrosine metabolism of phenylalanine. Tryptophan and phenylalanine are essential amino acids and must ultimately be derived from dietary proteins; tyrosine is obtained both from dietary proteins and from the hydroxylation of phenylalanine by phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH). The proportions of dietary tr...