Recently μ opioid receptor (MOR) has been shown to be closely associated with depression. Here we investigated the action of Shuyu, a Chinese herbal prescription, on repeated restraint stress induced depression-like rats, with specific attention to the role of MOR and the related signal cascade. Our results showed that repeated restraint stress caused significant depressive-like behaviors, as e...

The mu opioid receptor (MOR, OPRM)--the principal receptor involved in narcotic addiction--has been shown to display basal (spontaneous, constitutive) signaling activity. Interaction with other signaling proteins, such as calmodulin, regulates basal MOR activity. Providing a mechanism for long-lasting regulation, basal MOR activity potentially plays a key role in addiction, in combination with ...

The study of organogenesis investigates the increasingly restrictive genetic programs that ultimately result in a single differentiated cell type. To study the genetic mechanisms orchestrating organ development, our lab chose the pharynx in Caenorhabditis elegans as a model system. The pharynx is a narrow tube composed of muscular epithelial tissue and is responsible for the grinding and ingest...

Genetic analysis in Drosophila has shown that engrailed (en) plays an important role in segmentation and neurogenesis. A closely related gene, invected (in), is coexpressed with en in the posterior developmental compartments where en is known to specify cell state. We report here the isolation of two en-like cDNAs from the middle silk glands of Bombyx mori larvae. Sequence analysis revealed tha...

Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto www.aalto.fi Author Pekka Miettinen Name of the doctoral dissertation Partitioning and macromodeling -based realizable reduction of interconnect circuit models Publisher School of Electrical Engineering Unit Department of Radio Science and Engineering Series Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 10/2014 Field of research Circ...

Behavioral flexibility is a component of executive functioning that allows individuals to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Independent lines of research indicate that the mu opioid receptor (MOR) is an important mediator of behavioral flexibility and responses to psychosocial stress. The current study bridges these two lines of research and tests the extent to which social defeat and...

Attempts have been made to load tellurium (Te) atoms into the one-dimensional nano-channels of microporous crystals of aluminophosphate AlPO4-5 and of aluminosilicate mordenites of the Na(+) form (Na-MOR) and the H(+)-form (H-MOR) at 673 K. The density of the atoms adsorbed was in the sequence 0 ∼ AlPO4-5 ≪ H-MOR < Na-MOR. AlPO4-5 provides a shallow potential of periodical charge fluctuation fo...

Mu opioid receptor (MOR) agonists are widely used for the treatment of pain; however, chronic use results in the development of tolerance and dependence. It has been demonstrated that coadministration of a MOR agonist with a delta opioid receptor (DOR) antagonist maintains the analgesia associated with MOR agonists, but with reduced negative side-effects. Using our newly refined opioid receptor...

The lipid composition of cell membranes has increasingly been recognized as playing an important role in the function of various membrane proteins, including G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs). For instance, experimental and computational evidence has pointed to lipids influencing receptor oligomerization directly, by physically interacting with the receptor, and/or indirectly, by altering the...

When exposed to young rats for a period of days, juvenile rats will respond with full parental behavior (FPB: retrieval and grouping of, and crouching over, pups). Because the parental behavior of juveniles is so robust, and because opiates have been shown to be involved in the regulation of parental behavior in adult animals, we examined morphine's ability to disrupt the display of parental be...