Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.1.1.7 (acetylcholinesterase)
 28,390 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In a previous study, we demonstrated trophic effects of vitamin A and its active metabolite, retinoic acid (RA), on perinatal rat spinal cord neurons and astrocytes in vitro. We now report that RA increases the survival of cholinergic neurons without affecting that of GABAergic neurons. These results were supported by measured levels of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) activities, key enzymes of acetylcholine and gamma-aminobutyric acid metabolism, respectively, which showed RA-induced increases in AChE and ChAT levels but no elevations of GAD activity. In contrast to these phenotype-specific effects, most neurons showed RA-induced increases in neuritic outgrowth, density, and silver impregnation. Taken together, these results demonstrate neurotransmitter-specific and generalized effects of RA on developing CNS neurons.
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PMID:Differential susceptibilities of spinal cord neurons to retinoic acid-induced survival and differentiation. 201 40

We have found that interleukin 3 (IL-3), a growth factor for hematopoietic cells, is a novel trophic factor for mouse and rat central cholinergic neurons. It enhanced neurite outgrowth and elevated choline acetyltransferase activity. The effect seems to be specific for cholinergic neurons, since somatostatin release and glutamic acid decarboxylase and 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase activities were not significantly influenced by IL-3. In vivo, IL-3 was infused into the lateral ventricles of rats after unilateral axotomy of the septohippocampal pathways. Two weeks later, the IL-3-treated animals showed significant numbers of acetylcholinesterase-positive neurons remaining in the septal region.
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PMID:Interleukin 3 as a trophic factor for central cholinergic neurons in vitro and in vivo. 215 41

The gustatory neocortex (GN), final relay along the gustatory pathway, is a region of the brain involved in the neural integration of feeding behavior. Since information on the neurotransmitters in this nucleus is scarce, the aim of the present work was to establish whether acetylcholine (ACh), gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), dopamine and glutamate may act as transmitters within this structure. It was found that GN slices are able to release labeled GABA, ACh and glutamate but not dopamine. Additionally, it was possible to detect significant glutamic acid decarboxylase, choline acetyltransferase and acetylcholinesterase activities in GN homogenates. The activity of the two enzymes involved in acetylcholine metabolism was higher than that observed in other cortical regions. These findings suggest that GABA, ACh and glutamate probably are neurotransmitters in the GN, whereas dopamine is not.
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PMID:Release of acetylcholine, gamma-aminobutyrate, dopamine and glutamate, and activity of some related enzymes, in rat gustatory neocortex. 220 82

Human fetal hippocampal tissue from normal women was obtained following elective abortion in the 8th to the 11th week of gestation. The hippocampal tissue was transplanted to the anterior chamber of the eye of adult athymic nude rats, where it was allowed to develop for up to 9 months before histological and electrophysiological evaluation. The transplants were revascularized from the host iris and many grew extensively in oculo. Large neurons were present in all transplants. Immunohistochemical studies revealed glutamic acid decarboxylase-containing terminals and clusters of gamma-aminobutyric acid-positive nerve cell bodies within the transplants, as well as scattered tyrosine hydroxylase-positive and acetylcholinesterase-containing fibers. Single neurons recorded extracellularly from transplants 4-9 months in oculo showed a slow spontaneous discharge, with both complex and single action potentials. Stimulation of the transplant surface evoked a small initial wave followed by a larger and longer-lasting field potential, similar to that seen in hippocampus in situ. A conditioning-testing paradigm was used to evaluate the presence of inhibitory circuitry in the hippocampal transplants. Significant suppression of the evoked test response was seen with interstimulus intervals ranging from 20 to 500 ms. Superfusion of enkephalin (100-300 nM) or penicillin (1600 U/ml) increased slow-wave activity, as did tetanic electrical stimulation. These treatments appeared to generate ictal-like activity, which in some cases persisted as interictal spikes. Illumination of the retina also increased neuronal activity, presumably by reflex activation of cholinergic afferents from the parasympathetic innervation of the iris. Taken together, our data suggest that fragments of hippocampus from aborted first trimester human fetuses, grafted to the eye chamber of rodent hosts, develop many organotypic histological and physiological features. This preparation may provide a unique means for the study of neurobiological properties of human brain in both normal and disease states.
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PMID:Morphological and electrophysiological studies of human hippocampal transplants in the anterior eye chamber of athymic nude rats. 270 63

Effects of alcohol (ethanol) and acetaldehyde (AcAl) on the metabolism and function of gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA)ergic and cholinergic systems were investigated using mouse cerebral cortical neurons in primary culture. Exposure to alcohol in vitro had no significant effects on the content of neuroactive amino acids as well as the activities of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), GABA-transaminase (GABA-T), choline acetyltransferase (CAT) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE). In contrast, AcAl showed remarkable reductions of neuroactive amino acids content, and of CAT and AChE activities, but induced no alteration in the activities of GAD and GABA-T. [3H]Flunitrazepam [( 3H]FLN) binding and the stimulatory effect of GABA on [3H]FLN binding were found to be inhibited by in vitro exposure to both alcohol and AcAl, both of which, however, induced no changes in [3H]muscimol binding. These results suggest that the direct actions of AcAl on cholinergic systems in primary cultured neurons may be more potent than those of alcohol. The results described above also suggest that alcohol-induced neurochemical alterations in vivo may be, at least in part, caused by AcAl converted from alcohol in vivo.
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PMID:Effects of alcohol and acetaldehyde on metabolism and function of neurotransmitter systems in cerebral cortical neurons in primary culture. 289

The laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (ntdl) contains a cluster of cells located just medial to the locus coeruleus in the pontine brainstem. The ntdl has been shown to project both rostrally to the forebrain and diencephalon and caudally to the spinal cord. In an effort to characterize this region neurochemically, the present study was conducted to identify a variety of neurochemicals localized within perikarya and fibers of the ntdl and surrounding nuclei. Rats were perfused with formalin, and brain sections were processed for fluorescence immunocytochemistry and acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Of the neurochemicals screened, atrial natriuretic factor (ANF), choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), cholecystokinin (CCK), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), dynorphin B (Dyn B), galanin, somatostatin, substance P, neurotensin (NT), neuropeptide Y (NPY), vasopressin, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), serotonin (5HT), glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) were studied. AChE and ChAT staining revealed that the ntdl contains mostly cholinergic neurons. In addition, brightly reactive substance P and galanin and paler staining CRF, ANF, CGRP, NT, VIP, and Dyn B cell bodies were found within the ntdl. Varicose fibers in this nucleus also contained these peptides in addition to CCK, GAD, TH, 5HT, and NPY. The dorsal tegmental nucleus, dorsal raphe nucleus, locus coeruleus, and the parabrachial region contained a dense and varied assortment of peptides with distinct positions and patterns. This multiplicity of neurochemicals within this area suggests a possible influence on a variety of functions modulated by the ntdl and other closely associated tegmental nuclei.
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PMID:Immunocytochemical localization of peptides and other neurochemicals in the rat laterodorsal tegmental nucleus and adjacent area. 289 81

The subcellular distribution of activity of 4-aminobutyraldehyde dehydrogenase (ABAL-DH) was studied in mouse brain. ABAL-DH was localized mainly in the crude mitochondrial fraction; most of the activity in this fraction was found in the subfraction containing synaptosomes, and the remainder was in the mitochondrial fraction. After osmotic disruption of synaptosomes, most of the activity was located in the synaptic cytosol, and the remainder was in the synaptic mitochondria. Sucrose density subfractionation of synaptosomes revealed that gamma-aminobutyric acid, glutamic acid decarboxylase, and ABAL-DH localized in a denser region of gradient fraction than the region containing acetylcholinesterase and choline acetyltransferase.
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PMID:Distribution of activity converting 4-aminobutyraldehyde to gamma-aminobutyric acid in subcellular fractions of mouse brain. 291 Oct 24

The development of photoreceptors and two putative neurotransmitter systems in the pineal organ and retina was studied during embryogenesis in the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus L. The investigation was performed by aid of immunocytochemistry using well characterized antisera to the retinal proteins alpha-transducin (TD alpha) and S-antigen (SA) (photoreceptor-markers), antisera against L-glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), choline-O-acetyltransferase (ChAT) and with acetylcholinesterase (AChE) histochemistry (neurotransmitter-markers). It was possible to set up the following developmental time-table concerning the first appearance of positive immuno- and enzyme-reactive cells in the pineal organ and retina: I AChE-activity and TD alpha- and SA-immunoreactive cells in the pineal organ; II GAD- and GABA-immunoreactive cells in the pineal organ and retina; ChAT immunoreactivity and AChE activity in the retina; III hatching; IV SA-immunoreactive cells in the retina. The obtained results provide good evidence that while photoreceptor cells develop much earlier in the pineal organ than in the retina, neurons develop simultaneously in the pineal organ and retina.
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PMID:Temporal disparity in pineal and retinal ontogeny. 316 85

Ethylcholine mustard aziridinium ion (AF64A), an irreversible inhibitor of high-affinity choline uptake on cholinergic nerve terminals, appears to selectively decrease presynaptic cholinergic markers after intracerebral injection. To restrict AF64A's action to cholinergic terminals within the frontoparietal (FP) cortex, the present study utilized multiple-site cortical infusions of the agent. Following an extensive histological analysis, a dose of 1 nmol AF64A/1 microliter was selected for determining AF64A's effects on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) staining, cortical cholinergic/non-cholinergic markers, and passive avoidance behavior. Adult rats given two infusions of AF64A into the right FP cortex had reduced AChE staining throughout 75% of the ipsilateral FP cortex at 10 days following infusion, thus suggesting an extensive cortical diffusion of the agent; minimal non-specific damage was seen (totalling only 4% of the ipsilateral FP cortex for both infusion sites) and no effects on AChE staining were observed in the striatum or hippocampus. Three weeks after bilateral AF64A infusions into the FP cortex (two injections on each side), significant frontal cortex deficits were observed in high-affinity choline uptake, acetylcholine synthesis, acetylcholine release, and hemicholinium-3 binding compared to vehicle-infused controls. However, choline acetyltransferase activity within the anterior cortex did not appear to be consistently affected by AF64A infusion. Cortical glutamic acid decarboxylase activity, as well as cortical monoaminergic markers, and neuropeptide levels were also unaffected. Moreover, animals that received bilateral AF64A infusions and were tested two weeks afterwards showed marked memory retention deficits during both the 24-h and 48-h postshock trials of passive avoidance testing. These results indicate that cortical AF64A infusion induces a specific, long-term cholinergic hypofunction of presynaptic markers within the cortex, resulting in a significant long-term memory impairment. Since the primary cholinergic innervation to the FP cortex, originating in the nucleus basalis of Meynert, appears to become dysfunctional (but not totally degenerative) in Alzheimer's disease, cortical AF64A infusions may closely reflect this cholinergic dysfunction by 'functionally' eliminating cortical cholinergic terminals.
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PMID:Induction of cortical cholinergic hypofunction and memory retention deficits through intracortical AF64A infusions. 335 82

The effects of acute and chronic cyclophosphamide (CP) exposure to male rats on several neurotransmitter enzymes have been examined in various brain regions of the F1 progeny at 90 d old. The acute postmeiotic CP exposure to male rats induced significant biphasic changes in the choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity in various brain regions of F1 progeny; significant decreases in the cerebellar acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity of the male (47%) and the female (14%) F1 progeny, and moderate decrease (26%) in the hippocampal AChE activity in the female F1 progeny; and a moderate increase (29%) in the temporo-cortical glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) activity of the female F1 rats. The chronic CP-exposed male rats resulted in a slight but significant decrease (16%) in the temporo-cortical ChAT activity in the female F1 progeny; a marked increase (51%) in the hypothalamic AChE activity in the male F1 progeny; and a marked decrease (32%) in cerebellar GAD activity and a slight increase (13%) in the striatal GAD activity in the female F1 progeny. These enzymatic changes in the adult brain of F1 progeny of CP-treated males may be associated with the behavioral abnormalities observed previously. Results suggest that these neurochemical parameters may be useful markers for analysis of the potential neurotoxicity of CP.
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PMID:Cyclophosphamide: effects of paternal exposure on the brain chemistry of the F1 progeny. 359 90


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