Article
Neurosciences
Keyrian Louis Le Gratiet, Christopher K. Anderson, Nagore Puente, Pedro Grandes, Charlotte Copas, Patrick C. Nahirney, Kerry R. Delaney, Raad Nashmi
Summary: We have identified three types of monosynaptic cholinergic inputs onto medial substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons in mice. These inputs have different effects on neuronal excitability, with cotransmitted ACh/GABA enhancing excitability.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Giorgia Giordani, Giulia Cattabriga, Andrea Becchimanzi, Ilaria Di Lelio, Giovanna De Leva, Silvia Gigliotti, Francesco Pennacchio, Giuseppe Gargiulo, Valeria Cavaliere
Summary: Acetylcholine (ACh) is a major neurotransmitter in insects that not only mediates synaptic interactions in the central nervous system but also regulates the innate immune response. This study found that inhibiting ACh synthesis or transport in neurons reduced the activation of drosomycin, an antimicrobial peptide gene, in infected flies. Mutations in the Drosophila alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and expression of a dominant negative form of this receptor subunit also affected the transcription of drosomycin. Interestingly, the response was similar when the dominant negative form was expressed in non-neuronal tissues or hemocytes. Inhibition of ACh synthesis in non-neuronal cells also affected drosomycin expression. These findings reveal the involvement of neural and non-neural cholinergic signals in modulating insect immune defenses and highlight the role of hemocytes in regulating the humoral immune response.
INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Maria Pechlivanidou, Elpinickie Ninou, Katerina Karagiorgou, Aikaterini Tsantila, Renato Mantegazza, Andreetta Francesca, Raffaello Furlan, Leon Dudeck, Johann Steiner, John Tzartos, Socrates Tzartos
Summary: In this review, the authors focus on the autoimmunity against neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), specifically the autoantibodies and their mechanisms in selected autoimmune diseases. They summarize the current knowledge from human diseases and experimental models, highlighting the infrequency of autoimmunity to neuronal nAChRs except for the autoantibodies to the alpha 3 subunit containing nAChR (alpha 3-nAChR). The authors also discuss the presence of autoantibodies to other neuronal nAChR subtypes and the need for further verification.
PHARMACOLOGICAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Arthur Cardoso Souto, Matheus Heidemann Tempone, Lyslie Azeredo Coutinho Goncalves, Vladimir Pedro Peralva Borges-Martins, Maria Carolina Peixoto-Rodrigues, Ana Clara Oliveira Damascena, Gabriel Ferraz, Alex Christian Manhaes, Newton Goncalves Castro, Ricardo Augusto de Melo Reis, Ana Lucia Marques Ventura, Regina Celia Cussa Kubrusly
Summary: Nicotine influences the development of avian embryo retina by reducing GABA uptake and increasing release through NMDAR and PKC pathways, as well as promoting calcium influx.
NEUROCHEMICAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Ana Belen Elgoyhen
Summary: Within the nAChR family, alpha 9 and alpha 10 subunits are distinct and distant members, forming a distinct clade in the phylogeny of nAChRs. They function as canonical ion channels in inner ear hair cells and play a role in the central nervous system control of auditory and vestibular sensory processing. Therefore, they deserve their own name based on their main synaptic site of action.
PHARMACOLOGICAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yohei Shimizu, Takahiro Shimizu, Suo Zou, Hideaki Ono, Yurika Hata, Masaki Yamamoto, Takaaki Aratake, Shogo Shimizu, Youichirou Higashi, Takashi Karashima, Motoaki Saito
Summary: This study demonstrates that stimulation of brain alpha 7-nAChR receptors can suppress rat micturition through brain GABA receptors, independently of the sympatho-adrenomedullary system modulation.
BIOCHEMICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Jaideep Kapur, Suchitra Joshi
Summary: Progesterone acts on neurons by activating its receptor and converting to neurosteroids, enhancing the expression of AMPARs. Its metabolite allopregnanolone mediates anxiolytic and sedative effects through enhanced GABA(A)Rs activation, showing opposing roles in regulating seizures and catamenial epilepsy.
NEUROSCIENCE LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Belle Buzzi, Eda Koseli, Lauren Moncayo, Mohammed Shoaib, M. Imad Damaj
Summary: Cannabis is widely used worldwide and there is no approved treatment for cannabis use disorder (CUD). Co-use of nicotine and cannabis suggests overlapping neurobiological actions, supported by their receptor systems in the brain. Studying nicotinic receptors may help understand cannabinoid dependence, with different subtypes potentially modulating different effects of cannabinoids. Clinical and genetic studies indicate potential involvement of alpha 5, alpha 3, and beta 4 nAChR subunits, while the alpha 2 subunit is strongly implicated in CUD susceptibility. Current smoking cessation agents may also be beneficial in treating CUD, but further controlled studies are needed. Additional research is necessary to investigate the role of nAChR in the pharmacological effects of cannabinoids.
PHARMACOLOGICAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Rostislav A. Sokolov, Irina V. Mukhina
Summary: Calcium is a crucial intracellular messenger in the brain that regulates various cell processes. In this study, the researchers used a fluorescent probe to investigate spontaneous Ca2+ events (SCEs) in neurons during culture maturation. They found that SCEs exhibited three different amplitude distributions and were dependent on extracellular Ca2+, neuronal network activity, and specific receptors and channels.
ARCHIVES OF BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIOPHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
David M. M. Shostak, Stephanie Constantin, Jill Flannery, Susan Wray
Summary: Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-secreting neurons, controlled by acetylcholine (ACh), directly regulate fertility by modulating gonadotrophs in the anterior pituitary. Calcium imaging experiments reveal that ACh can directly modulate GnRH neuronal activity. Cholinergic cells in septal areas are the source of ACh afferents contacting GnRH neurons.
FRONTIERS IN ENDOCRINOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Lena Hoffmann, Marcel S. Waclawczyk, Stephan Tang, Eva-Maria Hanschmann, Manuela Gellert, Marco B. Rust, Carsten Culmsee
Summary: This study demonstrates that the actin-regulating protein cofilin1 plays a crucial role in oxidative neuronal death by affecting mitochondrial function and oxidation. Additionally, cofilin1 can influence cellular metabolic pathways and resistance to oxidative stress.
CELL DEATH & DISEASE
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Elisa Ren, Giulia Curia
Summary: Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a common type of focal epilepsy, with mesial TLE (mTLE) often associated with hippocampal sclerosis. Abnormal epileptiform discharges result from altered cell-to-cell communication. Pathological studies and animal models are crucial for understanding TLE.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Hiroshi Yamauchi, Shinya Kagawa, Kuninori Kusano, Miki Ito, Chio Okuyama
Summary: This study found that secondary thalamic neuronal damage may result in a decrease in central benzodiazepine receptors in patients with cerebral infarction and artery disease. This decrease may be associated with frontal lobe dysfunction.
Article
Neurosciences
Mohamed Bilal Fares, Omar Alijevic, Stephanie Johne, Cassia Overk, Makoto Hashimoto, Athanasios Kondylis, Anthony Adame, Remi Dulize, Dariusz Peric, Catherine Nury, James Battey, Emmanuel Guedj, Nicolas Sierro, Damian Mc Hugh, Edward Rockenstein, Changyoun Kim, Robert A. Rissman, Julia Hoeng, Manuel C. Peitsch, Eliezer Masliah, Carole Mathis
Summary: This study investigated the effects of nicotine on α-Syn aggregation, neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, and motor deficits in transgenic mice and in a human neuronal model of synucleinopathy. The results showed that nicotine attenuated α-Syn-provoked neuropathology in both models. Furthermore, activation of α4β2 nicotinic receptors might mediate these neuroprotective effects.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Ines Guerreiro, Zhenglin Gu, Jerrel L. Yakel, Boris S. Gutkin
Summary: The CA1 pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus interact with various interneurons in complex local circuits. Recent studies have shown that activating a7 nACh receptors expressed in OLMa2 interneurons can induce long-term potentiation (LTP) in SC-CA1 synapses. According to a biophysically based model, activation of a7 nAChRs increases OLM GABAergic activity, leading to the inhibition of fast-spiking interneurons that provide feedforward inhibition to CA1 pyramidal neurons. This disinhibition, coupled with synchronized SC stimulation, can result in potentiation of excitatory synapses in CA1 pyramidal neurons.