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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73693-8_14 | DOI Listing |
Chromogranin A (CgA), a neuroendocrine pro-hormone, undergoes proteolytic cleavage to yield bioactive peptides, notably catestatin (CST) and pancreastatin (PST), which exert opposing effects on metabolic and inflammatory processes. Using CgA and CST knockout (KO) mice, this study investigated their roles in pancreatic endocrine function, morphology, neurotransmitter dynamics, and systemic glucose homeostasis. CST deficiency induced insulin resistance, altered islet architecture, and heightened catecholamine levels, whereas CgA-KO mice lacking both CST and PST exhibited improved insulin sensitivity due to absence of PST.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuroscience
August 2025
Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA; Institute for Systems Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA; Department of Psychological Sciences,
Disruptions in the endocannabinoid system (ECS) and norepinephrine/epinephrine (NE/E) system are individually linked to stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders, but their interaction in shaping stress responses remains unclear. We investigated the role of the ECS's primary receptor, cannabinoid type-1 receptor (CB1R), in NE/E-producing neurons using anatomical, behavioral, and physiological analyses in a conditional knockout mouse model (Cnr1), in which the Cnr1 gene-encoding CB1R-was selectively deleted in dopamine beta-hydroxylase-expressing cells. In situ hybridization in control mice revealed Cnr1 is broadly expressed in medullary C1/A1 and C2/A2 and sparsely in the locus coeruleus, marking the first cell-type-specific characterization of Cnr1 in brainstem catecholaminergic populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMed Sci (Basel)
July 2025
Second Department of Cardiology, Hippokration General Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54642 Thessaloniki, Greece.
Cardiac arrhythmias remain a major source of morbidity and mortality, often stemming from molecular and structural abnormalities that are insufficiently addressed by current pharmacologic and interventional therapies. Gene therapy has emerged as a transformative approach, offering precise and durable interventions that directly target the arrhythmogenic substrate. Across the spectrum of inherited and acquired arrhythmias-including long QT syndrome, Brugada syndrome, catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, and post-infarction ventricular tachycardia-gene-based strategies such as allele-specific silencing, gene replacement, CRISPR-mediated editing, and suppression-and-replacement constructs are showing growing translational potential.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImaging Neurosci (Camb)
January 2025
Aging Research Center, Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University, Solna, Sweden.
Age-related alterations in cortico-striatal function have been highlighted as an important determinant of declines in flexible, higher-order, cognition in older age. However, the mechanisms underlying such alterations remain poorly understood. Computational accounts propose age-related dopaminergic decreases to impoverish neural gain control, possibly contributing to reduced specificity of cortico-striatal circuits, that are modulated by dopamine, in older age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Physiol
September 2025
Department of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA.
The midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) shapes goal-oriented behaviours, including food intake, via dense dopaminergic projections to many key forebrain areas. In addition, the VTA serves as an integrator of neural inputs from throughout the brain that modulate VTA output to produce broad, state-dependent, changes that reflect the balance of internal and external considerations. The brainstem nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) is the primary site for integration of viscerosensory and taste information conveyed through the cranial nerves and is essential for the control of food intake.
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