The mammalian brain is composed of thousands of interacting neural cell types. Systematic approaches to establish the molecular identity of functional populations of neurons would advance our understanding of neural mechanisms controlling behavior. Here, we show that ribosomal protein S6, a structural component of the ribosome, becomes phosphorylated in neurons activated by a wide range of stim...

Prodynorphin (PDYN; OMIM: 131340) is the precursor of the dynorphin related peptides which plays an important role in several complex traits such as drug abuse [1]. It has been reported that the expression level of the PDYN gene is significantly increased by cocaine [2]. On the other hand, the Pdyn knockout mice showed increased explorative behavior in anxiety tests suggesting an anxiogenic rol...

Proopiomelanocortin (POMC) is a complex precursor that comprises several peptidic hormones, including melanocyte-stimulating hormones (MSHs), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and β-endorphin. POMC belongs to the opioid/orphanin gene family, whose precursors include either opioid (YGGF) or the orphanin/nociceptin core sequences (FGGF). This gene family diversified during early tetraploidizati...

Tissue-specific gene expression depends on the interaction between tissue-specific and general transcription factors. DREAM is a Ca2+-dependent transcriptional repressor widely expressed in the brain where it participates in nociception through its control of prodynorphin gene expression. In the periphery, DREAM is highly expressed in the thyroid gland, the immune system, and the reproductive o...

Expression of VP16-CREB, a constitutively active form of CREB, in hippocampal neurons of the CA1 region lowers the threshold for eliciting the late, persistent phase of long-term potentiation (L-LTP) in the Schaffer collateral pathway. This VP16-CREB-mediated L-LTP differs from the conventional late phase of LTP in not being dependent on new transcription. This finding suggests that in the tran...

AIM Prodynorphin (PDYN; OMIM: 131340) is the precursor of the dynorphin related peptides which plays an important role in drug abuse. Previous studies have been shown that the expression of PDYN is regulated by a genetic polymorphism of VNTR in the promoter region of the gene. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present case-control study was performed on 52 (41 males, 11 females) methamphetamine depen...

The spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) are a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative diseases. In 2010, four missense mutations in the prodynorphin (PDYN) gene were found in two families and two sporadic cases of SCA type 23 (SCA23) from the Netherlands. In addition, one missense mutation in PDYN was also found in one sporadic SCA23 case in America in 2012. To date, ther...

Pharmacological and biochemical evidence has implied that a widespread opioid peptide system exists within the cerebral cortex to mediate a variety of opiate effects. However, immunocytochemical detection of opioid peptides in the cortex has been limited. Using antisera to enkephalin and bovine adrenal medullary peptide, both fragments of proenkephalin, and an antiserum to dynorphin A, a fragme...