Abstract Sleep and arousal are both important for animals. The neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) has long been found to promote sleep in mammals, an apparent paradox which also exist flies, causing much confusion understanding arousal. Here, we have systematically studied all 13 ACh receptors (AChRs) Drosophila understand mechanisms underlying function We that exogenous stimuli-induced was d...

Alterations of molecules that mediate dopaminergic signal transduction have been found in schizophrenia, supporting the hypothesis of altered dopaminergic neurotransmission in this illness. To further explore this hypothesis, the authors measured transcript expression of three proteins involved in dopamine (DA) signaling in postmortem dorsolateral prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex of eld...

Background: Feeding behavior is regulated by a complex network which interacts via diverse signals from central and peripheral tissues. It is known dopaminergic and glutamatergic systems have crucial role on food intake regulation but scarce reports exist on their interaction in appetite regulation in broilers. OBJECTIVES: The present study was designed to examine the role of glutamatergic syst...

The effect of hypericin on the expression of morphine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) was investigated and compared with the effect of the synthetic antidepressants. The CPP paradigms took place over six days using an unbiased procedure. The results demonstrate that intra-peritoneal (IP) injection of morphine sulfate (2.5, 5 and 10 mg/Kg) significantly induce the CPP in rat. Intra-pe...

The local renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) have been involved in longevity, neurodegeneration and aging-related dopaminergic degeneration. However, it is not known whether IGF-1 and angiotensin-II (AII) activate each other. In the present study, AII, via type 1 (AT1) receptors, exacerbated neuroinflammation and dopaminergic cell death. AII, via AT1 recepto...

The regional distribution and cellular localization of dopamine D3 receptors in the rat brain was examined using quantitative autoradiography. [(125)I]7-OH-PIPAT bound in a saturable and reversible manner and exhibited subnanomolar affinity for a single population of GTP-insensitive sites. The pharmacological profile was characteristic of cloned D3 receptors and nonspecific binding was uniforml...

The localization of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)(B) receptors in the midbrain of the rat was examined in multiple labeling studies using antibodies directed against the GABA(B) receptor and either tryptophan hydroxylase or tyrosine hydroxylase. Almost all of the serotonergic and dopaminergic cell bodies in the midbrain displayed GABA(B) receptor-like immunoreactivity. Conversely, most neurons...

Agomelatine (S20098) displayed pKi values of 6.4 and 6.2 at native (porcine) and cloned, human (h)5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)2C receptors, respectively. It also interacted with h5-HT2B receptors (6.6), whereas it showed low affinity at native (rat)/cloned, human 5-HT2A (<5.0/5.3) and 5-HT1A (<5.0/5.2) receptors, and negligible (<5.0) affinity for other 5-HT receptors. In antibody capture/scintil...

At least 70% of the afferents to substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons are GABAergic. The vast majority of these arise from the neostriatum, the external globus pallidus and the substantia nigra pars reticulata. Nigral dopaminergic neurons express both GABA(A) and GABA(B) receptors, and are inhibited by local application of GABA(A) or GABA(B) agonists in vivo and in vitro. However, in vivo, syn...

Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) at presynaptic sites can modulate dopaminergic synaptic transmission by regulating dopamine (DA) release and uptake. Dopaminergic transmission in nigrostriatal and mesolimbic pathways is vital for the coordination of movement and is associated with learning and behavioral reinforcement. We reported recently that the D2 DA receptor plays a cent...