Search results for "Striatum"

Singular Location and Signaling Profile of Adenosine A2A-Cannabinoid CB1 Receptor Heteromers in the Dorsal Striatum

2018

The dorsal striatum is a key node for many neurobiological processes such as motor activity, cognitive functions, and affective processes. The proper functioning of striatal neurons relies critically on metabotropic receptors. Specifically, the main adenosine and endocannabinoid receptors present in the striatum, ie, adenosine A(2A) receptor (A(2A)R) and cannabinoid CB1 receptor (CB1R), are of pivotal importance in the control of neuronal excitability. Facilitatory and inhibitory functional interactions between striatal A(2A)R and CB1R have been reported, and evidence supports that this cross-talk may rely, at least in part, on the formation of A(2A)R-CB1R heteromeric complexes. However, th…

Environmental Tobacco Smoke During the Early Postnatal Period of Mice Interferes With Brain 18 F-FDG Uptake From Infancy to Early Adulthood – A Longi…

2020

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is associated with high morbidity and mortality, mainly in childhood. Our aim was to evaluate the effects of postnatal ETS exposure in the brain 2-deoxy-2-[18F]-fluoro-D-glucose (18F-FDG) uptake of mice by positron emission tomography (PET) neuroimaging in a longitudinal study. C57BL/6J mice were exposed to ETS that was generated from 3R4F cigarettes from postnatal day 3 (P3) to P14. PET analyses were performed in male and female mice during infancy (P15), adolescence (P35), and adulthood (P65). We observed that ETS exposure decreased 18F-FDG uptake in the whole brain, both left and right hemispheres, and frontal cortex in both male and female i…

ESC-Derived BDNF-Overexpressing Neural Progenitors Differentially Promote Recovery in Huntington's Disease Models by Enhanced Striatal Differentiation

2016

Summary Huntington's disease (HD) is characterized by fatal motoric failures induced by loss of striatal medium spiny neurons. Neuronal cell death has been linked to impaired expression and axonal transport of the neurotrophin BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). By transplanting embryonic stem cell-derived neural progenitors overexpressing BDNF, we combined cell replacement and BDNF supply as a potential HD therapy approach. Transplantation of purified neural progenitors was analyzed in a quinolinic acid (QA) chemical and two genetic HD mouse models (R6/2 and N171-82Q) on the basis of distinct behavioral parameters, including CatWalk gait analysis. Explicit rescue of motor function by…

2016

Cytoglobin (Cygb) is a vertebrate globin with so far poorly defined function. It is expressed in the fibroblast cell-lineage but has also been found in neurons. Here we provide, using immunohistochemistry, a detailed study on the distribution of Cygb in the mouse brain. While Cygb is a cytoplasmic protein in active cells of the supportive tissue, in neurons it is located in the cytoplasm and the nucleus. We found the expression of Cygb in all brain regions, although only a fraction of the neurons was Cygb-positive. Signals were of different intensity ranging from faint to very intense. Telencephalic neurons in all laminae of the cerebral cortex, in the olfactory bulb (in particular periglom…

Oleoylethanolamide restores alcohol-induced inhibition of neuronal proliferation and microglial activity in striatum

2019

Previous findings demonstrate a homeostatic role for oleoylethanolamide (OEA) signaling in the ethanol-related neuroinflammation and behavior. However, extensive research is still required in order to unveil the effects of OEA on a number of neurobiological functions such as adult neurogenesis, cell survival and resident neuroimmunity that become notably altered by alcohol. Daily consumption of ethanol (10%) for 2 weeks (6.3& #x202F;± 1.1 g/kg/day during last 5 days) caused hypolocomotor activity in rats. This effect appears to rely on central signaling mechanisms given that alcohol increased the OEA levels, the gene expression of OEA-synthesizing enzyme Nape-pld and the number of PPARα-imm…

Blockade of nitric oxide signalling promotes resilience to the effects of social defeat stress on the conditioned rewarding properties of MDMA in mice

2020

Abstract MDMA abuse continues being a serious problem in our society. Environmental factors, such as stress, increase the vulnerability of individuals to develop drug abuse and we have observed that exposure to social defeat (SD) stress alters the sensitivity of mice to the rewarding effects of MDMA in the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. In the present study, we evaluated the role of the nitric oxide (NO) pathway in the effects of SD on the rewarding properties of MDMA. Three groups of mice were treated with an inhibitor of NO synthesis, 7-nitroindazole (0, 7.25 and 12.5 mg/kg), before each exposure to SD and place conditioning with MDMA (1.25 mg/kg) on PND 54, 56, 58, and 60. …

Intranasal Administration of Extracellular Vesicles Derived from Human Teeth Stem Cells Improves Motor Symptoms and Normalizes Tyrosine Hydroxylase E…

2018

Abstract Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder affecting millions of people worldwide. At present, there is no effective cure for PD; treatments are symptomatic and do not halt progression of neurodegeneration. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can cross the blood–brain barrier and represent promising alternative to the classical treatment strategies. In the present study, we examined therapeutic effects of intranasal administration of EVs derived from human exfoliated deciduous teeth stem cells (SHEDs) on unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) medial forebrain bundle (MFB) rat model of PD. CatWalk gait tests revealed that EVs effectively suppressed 6-OHDA-…

Proteomic Analysis of Brain Region and Sex-Specific Synaptic Protein Expression in the Adult Mouse Brain

2020

Genetic disruption of synaptic proteins results in a whole variety of human neuropsychiatric disorders including intellectual disability, schizophrenia or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In a wide range of these so-called synaptopathies a sex bias in prevalence and clinical course has been reported. Using an unbiased proteomic approach, we analyzed the proteome at the interaction site of the pre- and postsynaptic compartment, in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, striatum and cerebellum of male and female adult C57BL/6J mice. We were able to reveal a specific repertoire of synaptic proteins in different brain areas as it has been implied before. Additionally, we found a region-specific set…

Dopamine, Noradrenaline and Serotonin Receptor Densities in the Striatum of Hemiparkinsonian Rats following Botulinum Neurotoxin-A Injection.

2017

Abstract Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by a degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) that causes a dopamine (DA) deficit in the caudate-putamen (CPu) accompanied by compensatory changes in other neurotransmitter systems. These changes result in severe motor and non-motor symptoms. To disclose the role of various receptor binding sites for DA, noradrenaline, and serotonin in the hemiparkinsonian (hemi-PD) rat model induced by unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) injection, the densities of D1, D2/D3, α1, α2, and 5HT2A receptors were longitudinally visualized and measured in the CPu of hemi-PD rats by quantitative in vitro receptor autorad…

Lorcaserin bidirectionally regulates dopaminergic function site-dependently and disrupts dopamine brain area correlations in rats

2020

Abstract Lorcaserin, which is a selective agonist of serotonin2C receptors (5-HT2CRs), is a new FDA-approved anti-obesity drug that has also shown therapeutic promise in other brain disorders, such as addiction and epilepsy. The modulation of dopaminergic function might be critical in the therapeutic effect of lorcaserin, but its exact effect is unknown. Here, we studied the effect of the peripheral administration of lorcaserin on the ventral tegmental area (VTA), the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) dopaminergic neural activity, dopamine (DA) dialysis levels in the nucleus accumbens and striatum and on DA tissue levels in 29 different rat brain regions. Lorcaserin (5–640 μg/kg, i.v.) m…