Interleukin-6 (human recombinant) supported the survival of cultured mesencephalic, catecholaminergic and septal cholinergic neurons from postnatal, two-week-old (P13-P15) rats. Significantly, more catecholaminergic neurons, stained by monoclonal anti-tyrosine hydroxylase antibody, were found in cultures supplemented with interleukin-6 at a concentration of 5 ng/ml than in cultures not treated ...

Recently we have shown that in vitro binding of the proximal part of the human tyrosine hydroxylase gene to the nuclear matrix is correlated with its transcriptional activity. The strongest binding potential was predicted by computing for the first intron sequence (Lenartowski & Goc, 2002, Neurosci Lett.; 330: 151-154). In this study a 16 kb fragment of the bovine genomic DNA containing the tyr...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of treadmill training on motor skills and immunoreactivity to tyrosine hydroxylase in the substantia nigra pars compacta and ventral tegmental area from diabetic rats induced by streptozotocin. Male Wistar rats were divided into three groups: control, diabetic and trained diabetic. Treadmill training was performed for 8weeks. Blood glucose conce...

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and norepinephrine (NE) mediate many hormonal, autonomic, and behavioral effects of acute stress, and it is possible that an interaction between these neurotransmitters could underlie neuronal adaptations in response to chronic stress. To test this hypothesis, the influence of chronically administered CRF and a specific CRF antagonist, alpha-helical CRF, on ...

GTP cyclohydrolase I is the first and rate-limiting enzyme for the de novo biosynthesis of tetrahydrobiopterin, which is the cofactor for tyrosine hydroxylase. Lipopolysaccharide can modulate tetrahydrobiopterin production by upregulating GTP cyclohydrolase I protein expression in the locus coeruleus in the mouse brain. The increased supply of tetrahydrobiopterin in the locus coeruleus leads to...

1. Activity of peripheral and central catecholaminergic neurons was studied in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and deoxycorticosterone (DOCA)-salt hypertensive rats. 2. In young SHR (4 weeks) the plasma values of bpth noradrenaline and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase activity were increased compared with those of normotensive rats of the Wistar/Kyoto strain. Total catecholamines (mostly adrenal...

Data from preclinical and clinical studies have implicated the norepinephrine system in the development and maintenance of post-traumatic stress disorder. The primary source of norepinephrine in the forebrain is the locus coeruleus (LC); however, LC activity cannot be directly measured in humans, and previous research has often relied upon peripheral measures of norepinephrine to infer changes ...

Nerve growth factor (NGF) mediates the phosphorylation of tyrosine hydroxylase in PC12 cells on two distinct peptide fragments, separable by two-dimensional tryptic phosphopeptide mapping (phosphopeptides T1 and T3). Phorbol diester derivatives capable of activating Ca+2/phospholipid-dependent protein kinase (C-kinase) cause a specific phosphorylation of peptide T3 in a dose-dependent, saturabl...

The site specificity of tyrosine hydroxylase phosphorylation in intact PC12 cells, labeled with 32Pi, was investigated. Digestion of 32P-tyrosine hydroxylase with trypsin produced five distinct 32P-labeled peptides (termed PC-1 through PC-5). Sequencing of the peptides revealed four acceptor sites: Ser8, Ser19, Ser31, and Ser40. The phosphorylation site in peptides PC-1 (AV-SEQDAK) and PC-2 (RA...

The objective of this study was to characterize levodopa (l-dopa)-induced dyskinesias in patients with tyrosine hydroxylase deficiency. Clinical observation was carried out on 6 patients who were diagnosed with tyrosine hydroxylase deficiency and were treated with escalating doses of l-dopa. All 6 patients showed l-dopa-induced dyskinesias of variable intensity early in the course of treatment ...