0000000000085127
AUTHOR
Sebastian Loch
Antiepileptogenic Effect of Subchronic Palmitoylethanolamide Treatment in a Mouse Model of Acute Epilepsy
Research on the antiepileptic effects of (endo-)cannabinoids has remarkably progressed in the years following the discovery of fundamental role of the endocannabinoid (eCB) system in controlling neural excitability. Moreover, an increasing number of well-documented cases of epilepsy patients exhibiting multi-drug resistance report beneficial effects of cannabis use. Pre-clinical and clinical research has increasingly focused on the antiepileptic effectiveness of exogenous administration of cannabinoids and/or pharmacologically induced increase of eCBs such as anandamide (also known as arachidonoylethanolamide [AEA]). Concomitant research has uncovered the contribution of neuroinflammatory p…
Cannabinoid type-1 receptor signaling in central serotonergic neurons regulates anxiety-like behavior and sociability.
The endocannabinoid (eCB) system possesses neuromodulatory functions by influencing the release of various neurotransmitters, including γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate. A functional interaction between eCBs and the serotonergic system has already been suggested. Previously, we showed that cannabinoid type-1 (CB1) receptor mRNA and protein are localized in serotonergic neurons of the raphe nuclei, implying that the eCB system can modulate serotonergic functions. In order to substantiate the physiological role of the CB1 receptor in serotonergic neurons of the raphe nuclei, we generated serotonergic 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) neuron-specific CB 1 receptor-deficient mice, using the Cr…
Targeting brain and peripheral plasticity of the lipidome in acute kainic acid-induced epileptic seizures in mice via quantitative mass spectrometry.
Epilepsy is a highly common chronic neurological disorder, manifested in many different types, affecting ~1% of the worldwide human population. The molecular mechanisms of epileptogenesis have not yet been clarified, and pharmacoresistance exhibited by 30-40% of epilepsy patients remains a major obstacle in medical care. Growing evidence indicates a role of lipid signalling pathways in epileptogenesis, thus lipid signals emerge as potential biomarkers for the onset and evolving course of the epileptic disorder, as well as potential therapeutic agents and targets. For this purpose, we applied a lipidomic strategy to unravel lipid alterations in brain regions, periphery tissues and plasma tha…
Neural stem cell lineage-specific cannabinoid type-1 receptor regulates neurogenesis and plasticity in the adult mouse hippocampus
Abstract Neural stem cells (NSCs) in the adult mouse hippocampus occur in a specific neurogenic niche, where a multitude of extracellular signaling molecules converges to regulate NSC proliferation as well as fate and functional integration. However, the underlying mechanisms how NSCs react to extrinsic signals and convert them to intracellular responses still remains elusive. NSCs contain a functional endocannabinoid system, including the cannabinoid type-1 receptor (CB1). To decipher whether CB1 regulates adult neurogenesis directly or indirectly in vivo, we performed NSC-specific conditional inactivation of CB1 by using triple-transgenic mice. Here, we show that lack of CB1 in NSCs is su…
Discovery and characterization of two novel CB1 receptor splice variants with modified N-termini in mouse
Numerous studies have been carried out in the mouse model, investigating the role of the CB1 cannabinoid receptor. However, mouse CB1 (mCB1) receptor differs from human CB1 (hCB1) receptor in 13 amino acid residues. Two splice variants, hCB1a and hCB1b, diverging in their amino-termini, have been reported to be unique for hCB1 and, via different signaling properties, contribute to CB1 receptor physiology and pathophysiology. We hypothesized that splice variants also exist for the mCB1 receptor and have different signaling properties. On murine hippocampal cDNA, we identified two novel mCB1 receptor splice variants generated by splicing of introns with 117 bp and 186 bp in the N-terminal dom…