Dystonia is a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary muscle contractions that cause twisting movements and abnormal postures. Functional imaging consistently reveals cerebellar overactivity in dystonic patients regardless of the type or etiology of the disorder. To explore mechanisms that might explain the basis for the cerebellar overactivity in dystonia, normal mice were challenge...

Objective(s): Crocus sativus L. and its active constituent, crocin, have neuroprotective effects. The effects of crocin on memory impairment have been mentioned in studies but the signaling pathways  have not been evaluated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of crocin on the hyoscine-induced memory impairment in rat. Additionally, the level o...

Functional expression of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors in cerebellar granule cells requires stargazin, a member of a large family of four-pass transmembrane proteins. Here, we define a family of transmembrane AMPA receptor regulatory proteins (TARPs), which comprise stargazin, gamma-3, gamma-4, and gamma-8, but not related proteins, that mediate surfa...

AMPA-type glutamate receptors are normally Ca(2+) impermeable due to the expression of the GluR2 receptor subunit. By using GluR2 null mice we were able to detect miniature synaptic Ca(2+) transients (MSCTs) associated with AMPA-type receptor-mediated miniature synaptic currents at single synapses in primary cortical cultures. MSCTs and associated Ca(2+) transients were monitored under conditio...

We examined whether injections of the excitatory amino acid AMPA are rewarding when injected into the posterior hypothalamus and ventral tegmental area. Rats quickly learned to lever-press for infusions of AMPA into the supramammillary or posterior hypothalamic nuclei but failed to learn to lever-press for similar injections into the ventral tegmental areas. AMPA injections into the supramammil...

AMPA-type glutamate receptors (GluRs) mediate most excitatory signaling in the brain and are composed of GluR principal subunits and transmembrane AMPA receptor regulatory protein (TARP) auxiliary subunits. Previous studies identified four mammalian TARPs, gamma-2 (or stargazin), gamma-3, gamma-4, and gamma-8, that control AMPA receptor trafficking, gating, and pharmacology. Here, we explore ro...

Introduction: The 17β-estradiol acts as a neurosteroid in the brain and modulates nociception by binding to the estrogen receptors and also by allosteric interaction with other membrane-bound receptors like glutamate receptors. Paragigantocellularis lateralis nucleus (LPGi) is one of the important brain regions implicated in the pain modulation. So, this study was designed to evaluate the ...

in vivo microdialysis was used to study the effects of morphine on glutamate release from the ventral tegmentum area (vta) in freely moving rats. intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of acute and repeated morphine at increasing doses significantly enhanced glutamate release. only a minor tolerance developed to this dosage of morphine. ap-s (2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid, 0.5 mg/kg i.p.), a nmda r...

Modification of AMPA receptor function is a major mechanism for the regulation of synaptic transmission and underlies several forms of synaptic plasticity. Post-translational palmitoylation is a reversible modification that regulates localization of many proteins. Here, we report that palmitoylation of the AMPA receptor regulates receptor trafficking. All AMPA receptor subunits are palmitoylate...