To determine the possible role of cyclooxygenase/lipoxygenase pathway in the regulation of proenkephalin (proENK) and prodynorphin (proDYN) gene expression induced by kainic acid (KA) in rat hippocampus, the effects of esculetin, aspirin, or phenidone on the seizure activity, proENK and proDYN mRNA levels, and the level of fos-related antigene (Fra) protein induced by KA in rat hippocampus were...

Recent research suggests that not only the dopamine neurotransmitter system but also the endogenous opioid system is involved in performance monitoring and the generation of prediction error signals. Heightened performance monitoring is also associated with psychopathology such as internalizing disorders. Therefore, the current study investigated the potential link between the functional opioid...

Reexposure to trauma reminders is an integral element of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (Roberts et al., 2009), but little is known about the physiological processes underlying the therapeutic progress. While it is well established that amygdala, prefrontal cortex and hippocampus are key brain structures in fear memory processing (McGaugh, 2004; Herry et al., 2008; Likhtik et al., ...

In an attempt to determine whether the opioid peptides derived from prodynorphin participate in the effects of electroconvulsive shock (ECS), we used radioimmunoassay and immunocytochemistry to measure dynorphin-like immunoreactivity (DN-LI) in various rat brain regions after repeated ECS treatments. Ten daily ECSs caused a significant increase in dynorphin A (1-8)-LI in most limbic-basal gangl...

The widespread distribution of the tumor suppressor PTEN in the nervous system suggests a role in a broad range of brain functions. PTEN negatively regulates the signaling pathways initiated by protein kinase B (Akt) thereby regulating signals for growth, proliferation and cell survival. Pten deletion in the mouse brain has revealed its role in controlling cell size and number. In this study, w...

Endothelin-converting enzyme-2 (ECE-2), a member of M13 family of zinc metallopeptidases, has previously been shown to process a number of neuropeptides including those derived from prodynorphin, proenkephalin, proSAAS, and amyloid precursor protein. ECE-2, unlike ECE-1, exhibits restricted neuroendocrine distribution and acidic pH optimum; it is consistent with a role in the regulation of neur...

Dopamine (DA) replacement therapy continues to be the gold standard treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD), as it improves key motor symptoms including bradykinesia and gait disturbances. With time, treatment induces side effects in the majority of patients, known as L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia (LID), which are often studied in animals by the use of unilateral, toxin-induced rodent models. In thi...

BACKGROUND In vivo electroporation has been successfully used for the introduction of DNA, RNA, oligonucleotides, and proteins into cells for experimental and therapeutic purposes. The authors evaluated the efficacy of electroporation-mediated c-Fos antibody therapy for neuropathic pain in vitro and in vivo. METHODS First, the authors studied the inhibitory effects of intrathecal c-Fos antibo...

The in vivo short-term effect of melatonin on kainic acid (KA)-induced proenkephalin (proENK) or prodynorphin (proDYN) mRNA, and on AP-1 protein levels in the rat hippocampus, were studied. Melatonin (5 mg/kg) or saline was administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) to rats 30 min prior to and immediately after i.p. injection of KA (10 mg/kg). Rats were sacrificed 1 and 3 h after KA injection. The p...

We previously demonstrated that prodynorphin (PDYN) haplotypes and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2281285 are associated with alcohol dependence and the propensity to drink in negative emotional states, and recent studies suggest that PDYN gene effects on substance dependence risk may be sex-related. We examined sex-dependent associations of PDYN variation with alcohol dependence and re...