Localization of age-related deficits in the cerebellar beta adrenergic signal transduction cascade were investigated electrophysiologically using forskolin (FORSK) and adenosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphothioate Sp-isomer (Sp-cAMPS) applied via pressure ejection from extracellular multibarreled glass electrodes to activate the transduction cascade. In young rats, 100 microM FORSK activated AC, an...

Understanding the mechanisms guiding interneuron development is a central aspect of the current research on cortical/hippocampal interneurons, which is highly relevant to brain function and pathology. In this methodological study we have addressed the setup of protocols for the reproducible culture of dissociated cells from murine medial ganglionic eminences (MGEs), to provide a culture system ...

The ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG) constitutes a major descending pain modulatory system and is a crucial site for opioid-induced analgesia. A number of previous studies have demonstrated that glutamate and GABA play critical opposing roles in nociceptive processing in the vlPAG. It has been suggested that glutamatergic neurotransmission exerts antinociceptive effects, whereas GABAer...

BACKGROUND Major depressive disorder is characterized as persistent low mood. A chronically stressful life in genetically susceptible individuals is presumably the major etiology that leads to dysfunctions of monoamine and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis. These pathogenic factors cause neuron atrophy in the limbic system for major depressive disorder. Cell-specific pathophysiology is unclea...

Most retinal ganglion cells respond only transiently, for approximately 150 msec at the onset and termination of a light flash. The responses are transient because it has been shown that bipolar-to-ganglion cell transmission is truncated after 150 msec by a feedback inhibition to bipolar cell terminals. The feedback inhibition itself must be delayed by approximately 150 msec to allow the initia...

A deeper understanding of post-stroke plasticity is critical to devise more effective pharmacological and rehabilitative treatments. The GABAergic system is one of the key modulators of neuronal plasticity, and plays an important role in the control of "critical periods" during brain development. Here, we report a key role for GABAergic inhibition in functional restoration following ischemia in...

functions. However, the mechanisms of GABAergic neurogenesis in the midbrain are not well understood. Previously, it has been shown that Ascl1 is required for development of GABAergic neurons in the midbrain. Here we have characterized in more detail the role of Ascl1 in the development of distinct subpopulations of midbrain GABAergic neurons. In Ascl1-null mutants GABAergic neurons are complet...

Midbrain- and hindbrain-derived GABAergic interneurons are critical for regulation of sleep, respiratory, sensory-motor and motivational processes, and they are implicated in human neurological disorders. However, the precise mechanisms that underlie generation of GABAergic neuron diversity in the midbrain-hindbrain region are poorly understood. Here, we show unique and overlapping requirements...

In a genetic screen for regulators of synaptic morphology, we identified the single Caenorhabditis elegans flamingo-like cadherin fmi-1. The fmi-1 mutants exhibit defective axon pathfinding, reduced synapse number, aberrant synapse size and morphology, as well as an abnormal accumulation of synaptic vesicles at nonsynaptic regions. Although FMI-1 is primarily expressed in the nervous system, it...

Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) and its receptor ErbB4 are both susceptibility genes of schizophrenia. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms of their malfunction. Although ErbB4 is enriched in GABAergic interneurons, the role of NRG1 in excitatory synapse formation in these neurons remains poorly understood. We showed that NRG1 increased both the number and size of PSD-95 puncta and the ...