2012 Targeting Trends Review

Kaminski KL, Watts AG (2012) Intact catecholamine inputs to the forebrain are required for appropriate regulation of corticotrophin-releasing hormone and vasopressin gene expression by corticosterone in the rat paraventricular nucleus. J Neuroendocrinol 24(12):1517-1526. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2826.2012.02363.x

Summary: Corticosterone releasing hormone (CRH) neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH) control release of adrenocorticotropic hormone and glucocorticoids. In order to determine the contribution of these neurons to CRH and vasopressin expression in the PVH the authors administered bilateral 42 ng injections of anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03) into the PVH of both normal and adrenalectomized rats. Mouse IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-18) was used as a control. The data demonstrate that under certain conditions CRH and vasopressin gene expression is modulated by interactions between corticosterone and catecholaminergic projections to the hypothalamus.

Related Products: Anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03), Mouse IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-18)

Daubert DL, McCowan M, Erdos B, Scheuer DA (2012) Nucleus of the solitary tract catecholaminergic neurons modulate the cardiovascular response to psychological stress in rats. J Physiol 590(Pt 19):4881-4895. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2012.232314

Summary: It has been proposed that the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) is highly involved in cardiovascular regulation. In light of the fact that catecholaminergic neurons in the NTS are part of stress-related neurocircuitry, the authors investigated whether these neurons attenuate blood pressure increases due to stress. Rats received 22 ng bilateral injections of anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03) into the NTS. Mean arterial pressure and baseline plasma epinephrine were measured in a restraint test. Animals lesioned with anti-DBH-SAP displayed a significantly enhanced mean arterial pressure, and reduced plasma epinephrine. These data suggest that catecholaminergic neurons in the NTS inhibit the arterial pressure response to stress, but maintain the corticosteroid response.

Related Products: Anti-DBH-SAP (Cat. #IT-03)

Paolone G, Lee TM, Sarter M (2012) Time to pay attention: attentional performance time-stamped prefrontal cholinergic activation, diurnality, and performance. J Neurosci 32(35):12115-12128. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2271-12.2012

Summary: This work examined the role that neuronal mechanisms have in cognitive performance on a fixed-time task. The authors performed bilateral 160 ng infusions of 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01) into the nucleus basalis and substantia innominata of the basal forebrain of rats that had reached stable performance on a sustained attention task. In control animals trained in the same task, prefrontal cholinergic neurotransmission persisted at the fixed time even after the task was terminated. Both lesioning and altering the task training time impaired task performance.

Related Products: 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01)

Kirillova V, Prosviryakov E (2012) Disrupted serotonergic system in patients with pulmonary hypertension may serve as novel biomarkers new therapeutic targets and to assess severity, progression and response to treatment. Cardiovasc Res 93 Suppl 1:P209. European Society of Cardiology, Munich Germany. PMID: 909090

Summary: At the Frontiers in Cardiovascular Biology meeting in London the authors presented work examining the role serotonin and serotonin transporters play in pulmonary hypertension. Anti-SERT (Cat. #AB-N09, 1:500) was used in immunohistochemistry to detect the serotonin transporter in the myocardium.  The data demonstrate that serotonin levels in the blood and serotonin transporter levels in the myocardium are both increased in patients with pulmonary hypertension.

Related Products: Antibody to Serotonin Transporter (SERT, Cat. #AB-N09)

Koppen JR, Winter SS, Stuebing SL, Cheatwood JL, Wallace DG (2013) Infusion of GAT1-saporin into the medial septum/vertical limb of the diagonal band disrupts self-movement cue processing and spares mnemonic function. Brain Struct Funct 218(5):1099-1114. doi: 10.1007/s00429-012-0449-7

Summary: Both mnemonic and spatial processing are adversely affected by dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. There is evidence to support the involvement of cholinergic systems in this deficit. In this work the authors examined how GABAergic neurons in the septohippocampus contribute to these cognitive functions. Rats received a total of 350 ng of GAT-1-SAP (Cat. #IT-32) infused into the medial septum-diagonal band of Broca. Although lesioned animals performed normally in tasks involving spatial cues, food hoarding was affected indicating that self-movement cue processing was interfered with by the loss of these GABAergic neurons.

Related Products: GAT1-SAP (Cat. #IT-32)

Savage S, Mattsson A, Olson L (2012) Cholinergic denervation attenuates phencyclidine-induced c-fos responses in rat cortical neurons. Neuroscience 216:38-45. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2012.04.064

Summary: Phenylcyclidine (PCP) has been used to model aspects of schizophrenia in animals. 81 ng of 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01) was injected into the nucleus basalis magnocellularis of rats to assess the effects of low dose PCP in a cholinergically-deprived system. Saporin (Cat. #PR-01) was used as a control. Results demonstrate basalocortical cholinergic neurons are necessary for PCP to have full effect.

Related Products: 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01), Saporin (Cat. #PR-01)

Gil-Bea FJ, Gerenu G, Aisa B, Kirazov LP, Schliebs R, Ramirez MJ (2012) Cholinergic denervation exacerbates amyloid pathology and induces hippocampal atrophy in Tg2576 mice. Neurobiol Dis 48(3):439-446. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2012.06.020

Summary: The hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) include hippocampal cell loss, cholinergic dysfunction, amyloid plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles, among other things. This work sought to examine the interaction between cholinergic denervation, amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing, and hippocampal integrity. Tg2576 transgenic mice received 2 μg of mu p75-SAP (Cat. #IT-16) injected into the third ventricle. These mice overexpress a version of human APP. Lesioned animals displayed various aspects of AD such as hippocampal synaptic pathology and neurodegeneration, indicating that immunolesions in this mouse line produce a viable model for AD.

Related Products: mu p75-SAP (Cat. #IT-16)

Parent M, Bedard MA, Aliaga A, Soucy JP, Landry St-Pierre E, Cyr M, Kostikov A, Schirrmacher E, Massarweh G, Rosa-Neto P (2012) PET imaging of cholinergic deficits in rats using [(18)F]fluoroethoxybenzovesamicol ([(18)F]FEOBV). Neuroimage 62(1):555-561. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.04.032

Summary: In order to better understand and evaluate neurodegenerative diseases imaging agents are necessary to visualize the affected systems. [18F]fluoroethoxybenzovesamicol ([18F]FEOBV) is one such agent that shows promise for labeling the vesicular acetylcholine transporter with positron emission tomography. The authors injected 0.2 μg of 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01) into the left hemisphere of rats to model cholinergic terminal loss as seen in aged animals. Loss of these terminals was found to reduce [18F]FEOBV binding in the ventral frontal cortex on the lesioned side, and also in the homologous region of the contralateral hemisphere, allowing detection of both physiological and pathological reduction of cholinergic terminals.

Related Products: 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01)

Huang TY, Lin LS, Cho KC, Chen SJ, Kuo YM, Yu L, Wu FS, Chuang JI, Chen HI, Jen CJ (2012) Chronic treadmill exercise in rats delicately alters the Purkinje cell structure to improve motor performance and toxin resistance in the cerebellum. J Appl Physiol 113(6):889-895. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.01363.2011

Summary: It is known that exercise can improve motor performance, but the cellular changes that occur in the cerebellum in response to exercise are not understood. Rats were subject to exercise training and a rotarod test was used to evaluate performance. After training some animals were given a 2 μg injection of OX7-SAP (Cat. #IT-02) into the lateral ventricle. In sedentary rats OX7-SAP administration reduced rotarod performance as well as eliminated 60% of Purkinjie cells. Rats given exercise training exhibited much milder injury in the cerebellum as a result of the lesion and maintained a higher level of rotarod performance than the sedentary group.

Related Products: OX7-SAP (Cat. #IT-02)

Laplante F, Zhang ZW, Huppe-Gourgues F, Dufresne MM, Vaucher E, Sullivan RM (2012) Cholinergic depletion in nucleus accumbens impairs mesocortical dopamine activation and cognitive function in rats. Neuropharmacology 63(6):1075-1084. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2012.07.033

Summary: Current thought is that loss of cholinergic function in the nucleus accumbens (N.Acc) is associated with schizophrenia. This deficit is accompanied by low dopaminergic activity in the prefrontal area, which adversely affects working memory. Rats received bilateral injections totaling 500 ng of anti-ChAT-SAP (Cat. #IT-42) into the N.Acc; rabbit IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-35) was used as a control. Lesioned animals had markedly reduced mesocortical dopamine activation, which corresponded with cognitive impairments. The data suggest that loss of cholinergic neurons in the N.Acc causes loss of dopamine function in the mesocorticolimbic system.

Related Products: Anti-ChAT-SAP (Cat. #IT-42), Rabbit IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-35)