Modulation Of Cocaine-Like Behavioural Activity By Serotonin Uptake Inhibition Relative To The Effects Of The Novel And Selective Dopamine Transporter Inhibitor, D-84, 2010 Virginia Commonwealth University
Modulation Of Cocaine-Like Behavioural Activity By Serotonin Uptake Inhibition Relative To The Effects Of The Novel And Selective Dopamine Transporter Inhibitor, D-84, Angela Batman
Theses and Dissertations
Cocaine dependence is a major health concern worldwide, but despite this high rate of abuse there are currently no approved therapies for cocaine dependence. Replacement pharmacotherapies are one possible approach for treating cocaine dependence, and identification of such therapeutics for cocaine abuse is the long-term goal of this research. Cocaine binds to, and inhibits uptake at the dopamine (DAT), serotonergic (SERT) and noradrenaline (NET) uptake transporters, but studies have shown that cocaine produces its strong behavioural and positive reinforcing effects through inhibition of the DAT. To this end a great number of diverse, non-selective DAT-inhibiting compounds have been investigated as …
Neural Network Model For Instruments That Store And Retrieve Sequential Information, 2010 University of Kentucky
Neural Network Model For Instruments That Store And Retrieve Sequential Information, Philip W. Landfield, Olivier Thibault
Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Patents
A method and design is provided for distributing and storing sets of temporally ordered information in a systematic and sequential fashion. This method is based on a model of how the brain functions in the distribution and storage of temporally ordered memories, but it can also be applied to the design of new biological, electronic or optical devices. These devices may be used in the testing and development of new therapeutic drugs, in the detection of toxic agents or impaired performance, or in the development of new industrial and consumer devices in which the orderly storage of sequential information is …
Metabolic Oscillations In Pancreatic Islets Depend On The Intracellular Ca2+ Level But Not Ca2+ Oscillations, 2010 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Metabolic Oscillations In Pancreatic Islets Depend On The Intracellular Ca2+ Level But Not Ca2+ Oscillations, Matthew J. Merrins, Bernard Fendler, Min Zhang, Arthur Sherman, Richard Bertram, Leslie S. Satin
Pharmacology and Toxicology Publications
Abstract
Plasma insulin is pulsatile and reflects oscillatory insulin secretion from pancreatic islets. Although both islet Ca2+ and metabolism oscillate, there is disagreement over their interrelationship, and whether they can be dissociated. In some models of islet oscillations, Ca2+ must oscillate for metabolic oscillations to occur, whereas in others metabolic oscillations can occur without Ca2+ oscillations. We used NAD(P)H fluorescence to assay oscillatory metabolism in mouse islets stimulated by 11.1 mM glucose. After abolishing Ca2+ oscillations with 200 μM diazoxide, we observed that oscillations in NAD(P)H persisted in 34% of islets (n = 101). …
A Transposon In Comt Generates Mrna Variants And Causes Widespread Expression And Behavioral Differences Among Mice, 2010 University of Tennessee - Memphis
A Transposon In Comt Generates Mrna Variants And Causes Widespread Expression And Behavioral Differences Among Mice, Zhengsheng Li, Megan K. Mulligan, Xusheng Wang, Michael F. Miles, Lu Lu, Robert W. Williams
Pharmacology and Toxicology Publications
Background
Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is a key enzyme responsible for the degradation of dopamine and norepinephrine. COMT activity influences cognitive and emotional states in humans and aggression and drug responses in mice. This study identifies the key sequence variant that leads to differences in Comt mRNA and protein levels among mice, and that modulates synaptic function and pharmacological and behavioral traits.
Methodology/Principal Findings
We examined Comt expression in multiple tissues in over 100 diverse strains and several genetic crosses. Differences in expression map back to Comt and are generated by a 230 nt insertion of a B2 short interspersed element (B2 …
Activation Of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor G In Brain Inhibits Inflammatory Pain, Dorsal Horn Expression Of Fos, And Local Edema, 2010 University of Kentucky
Activation Of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor G In Brain Inhibits Inflammatory Pain, Dorsal Horn Expression Of Fos, And Local Edema, Jenny Morgenweck, Omar D. Abdel-Aleem, Katelyn C. Mcnamara, Renee R. Donahue, M Z. Badr, Bradley K. Taylor
Renee R. Donahue
Systemic administration of thiazolidinediones reduces peripheral inflammation in vivo, presumablybyacting at peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor g (PPARg) in peripheral tissues. Based on a rapidly growing body of literature indicating the CNS as a functional target of PPARg actions, we postulated that brain PPARg modulates peripheral edema and the processing of inflammatory pain signals in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. To test this in the plantar carrageenan model of inflammatory pain, we measured paw edema, heat hyperalgesia, and dorsal horn expression of the immediate-early gene c-fos after intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration of PPARg ligands or vehicle. We found that ICV rosiglitazone …
Molecular Staging Estimates Occult Tumor Burden In Colorectal Cancer, 2010 Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Thomas Jefferson University
Molecular Staging Estimates Occult Tumor Burden In Colorectal Cancer, Alex Mejia, Stephanie Schulz, Terry Hyslop, David S. Weinberg, Scott A. Waldman
Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Faculty Papers
Tumor cells in regional lymph nodes are a key prognostic marker of survival and predictive marker of response to adjuvant chemotherapy in colorectal cancer. However, clinicopathologic techniques to detect lymph node metastases remain imperfect, and ~30% of patients with lymph nodes negative by histology (pN0) develop recurrent disease, reflecting occult metastases that escape detection. These observations underscore an unmet clinical need for accurate approaches to identify occult nodal metastases in colorectal cancer patients. GUCY2C is a receptor whose expression normally is restricted to intestinal epithelial cells, but is universally over-expressed by colorectal cancer cells. A prospective, multicenter, blinded clinical trial …
Selection Of Optimal Reference Genes For Normalization In Quantitative Rt-Pcr., 2010 Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
Selection Of Optimal Reference Genes For Normalization In Quantitative Rt-Pcr., Inna Chervoneva, Yanyan Li, Stephanie Schulz, Sean Croker, Chantell Wilson, Scott A Waldman, Terry Hyslop
Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Faculty Papers
BACKGROUND: Normalization in real-time qRT-PCR is necessary to compensate for experimental variation. A popular normalization strategy employs reference gene(s), which may introduce additional variability into normalized expression levels due to innate variation (between tissues, individuals, etc). To minimize this innate variability, multiple reference genes are used. Current methods of selecting reference genes make an assumption of independence in their innate variation. This assumption is not always justified, which may lead to selecting a suboptimal set of reference genes. RESULTS: We propose a robust approach for selecting optimal subset(s) of reference genes with the smallest variance of the corresponding normalizing factors. …
Expression Of The Intestinal Biomarkers Guanylyl Cyclase C And Cdx2 In Poorly Differentiated Colorectal Carcinomas., 2010 Rhode Island Hospital, Alpert Medical School
Expression Of The Intestinal Biomarkers Guanylyl Cyclase C And Cdx2 In Poorly Differentiated Colorectal Carcinomas., Brody Winn, Rosemarie Tavares, Andres Matoso, Lelia Noble, Jacqueline Fanion, Scott A Waldman, Murray B Resnick
Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Faculty Papers
Guanylyl cyclase C, a receptor for bacterial diarrheagenic enterotoxins, is expressed selectively by intestinal epithelium and is an endogenous downstream target of CDX2. The expression of Guanylyl cyclase C is preserved throughout the adenoma/carcinoma sequence in the colorectum. Detection of Guanylyl cyclase C expression by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction is currently being validated as a technique to identify occult lymph node metastases in patients with colorectal cancer and for circulating cells in the blood for postoperative surveillance. Although Guanylyl cyclase C is widely expressed by well-differentiated colorectal cancer, its expression in poorly differentiated colorectal cancer has not been evaluated. A …