The nigrostriatal dopamine system of the mammalian brain is necessary for normal voluntary motor activity. Dopamine exerts its effects by acting on two primary receptor subtypes: D1-like (D1 and D5) and D2-like (D2, D3, and D4) receptors. Previous research has indicated that both subtypes are involved in the negative feedback regulation of dopamine release in the brain. However, the role of D1-...

We examined whether selective activation of mGlu4 metabotropic glutamate receptors attenuates 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced nigrostriatal damage in mice. C57BL mice were treated with a single dose of MPTP (30 mg/kg, i.p.) preceded, 30 min earlier, by a systemic injection of the mGlu4 receptor enhancer N-phenyl-7-(hydroxyimino)cyclopropa[b]chromen-1a-carboxamide (PH...

Reinstalling the neurobiological circuits to effectively change the debilitating course of neurodegenerative diseases is of utmost importance. This reinstallation requires generation of new cells which are able to differentiate into specific types of neurons and modification of the local environment suitable for integration of these new neurons into the neuronal circuits. Allopregnanolone (APα)...

BACKGROUND Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) sometimes exhibit parkinsonism, but the lesion responsible for parkinsonism has not been extensively studied. OBJECTIVE To test whether nigrostriatal system dysfunction is responsible for parkinsonism in ALS. DESIGN From the 182 ALS patients who were admitted to our neurology ward during the past 10 years, we extracted all the pat...

223 Aged rodents, like aged humans, exhibit a decline in sensory and motor functions, learning and memory /1/. The altered dopaminergic transmission in the nigrostriatal system is implicated in movement disorders and sensorimotor coordination disabilities associated with aging /2/.

The aim was to establish a non-primate large animal PD model by lentiviral vector mediated mutant alpha-synuclein overexpression in the substantia nigra. Lentivirus encoding A53T alpha-synuclein (6 x 2.5 μl) was stereotaxically injected into the substantia nigra of six adult female Göttingen minipigs. Contralateral control injections encoding enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) were perfo...

Recent progress in understanding the diversity of midbrain dopamine neurons has highlighted the importance--and the challenges--of defining mammalian neuronal cell types. Although neurons may be best categorized using inclusive criteria spanning biophysical properties, wiring of inputs, wiring of outputs, and activity during behavior, linking all of these measurements to cell types within the i...

The murine mutant weaver (gene symbol, wv) mouse, which carries a mutation in the gene encoding the G-protein inwardly rectifying potassium channel Girk2, exhibits a diverse range of defects as a result of postnatal cell death in several different brain neuron subtypes. Loss of dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons in the weaver, unlike cerebellar granule neuronal loss, is via a noncaspase-mediate...

BACKGROUND Holmes' tremor is characterized by a combination of rest, postural, and kinetic tremor that is presumably caused by interruption of cerebello-thalamo-cortical and nigrostriatal pathways. Medical treatment remains unsatisfactory. CASE REPORT A 16-year-old girl presented with Holmes' tremor caused by a transient midbrain abnormality on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To explore the...