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ABSTRACT: Astrocytes are implicated in information processing, signal transmission, and regulation of synaptic plasticity. Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is the major water channel in adult brain and is primarily expressed in astrocytes. A growing body of evidence indicates that AQP4 is a potential molecular target for the regulation of astrocytic function. However, little is known about the role of AQP4 in synaptic plasticity in the amygdala. Therefore, we evaluated long-term potentiation (LTP) in the lateral amygdala (LA) and associative fear memory of AQP4 knockout (KO) and wild-type mice. We found that AQP4 deficiency impaired LTP in the thalamo-LA pathway and associative fear memory. Furthermore, AQP4 deficiency significantly downregulated glutamate transporter-1 (GLT-1) expression and selectively increased NMDA receptor (NMDAR)-mediated EPSCs in the LA. However, low concentration of NMDAR antagonist reversed the impairment of LTP in KO mice. Upregulating GLT-1 expression by chronic treatment with ceftriaxone also reversed the impairment of LTP and fear memory in KO mice. These findings imply a role for AQP4 in synaptic plasticity and associative fear memory in the amygdala by regulating GLT-1 expression.
Neuropsychopharmacology: official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology 04/2012; 37(8):1867-78. · 6.99 Impact Factor
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Meihua She,
Xiaojian Deng,
Zhenyu Guo,
Moshe Laudon,
Zhuowei Hu,
Duanfang Liao,
Xiaobo Hu, Yi Luo,
Qingyun Shen,
Zehong Su,
Weidong Yin
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ABSTRACT: Evidences indicate that a complex relationship exists among sleep disorders, obesity and insulin resistance. NEU-P11 is a novel melatonin agonist used in treatment of psychophysiological insomnia, and in animal studies NEU-P11 showed sleep-promoting effect. In this study, we applied NEU-P11 on obese rats to assess its potential melatoninergic effects in vivo. Obese models were established using high-fat/high-sucrose-fed for 5 months. NEU-P11 (10mg/kg)/melatonin (4mg/kg)/vehicle were administered by a daily intraperitoneal injection respectively for 8 weeks. Our results showed that NEU-P11 or melatonin inhibited both body weight gain and deposit of abdominal fat with no influence on food intake. The impaired insulin sensitivity and antioxidative potency were improved and the levels of plasma glucose, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) decreased with an increased in HDL-cholesterol (HDL-c) after NEU-P11 or melatonin administration. These data suggest that NEU-P11, like melatonin, decreased body weight gain and improved insulin sensitivity and metabolic profiles in obese rats. We conclude that NEU-P11 has a melatoninergic effect on regulating body weight in obese rats and also improving metabolic profiles and efficiently enhancing insulin sensitivity.
Pharmacological Research 05/2009; 59(4):248-53. · 4.44 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: To investigate the effects of recombinant human adiponectin on the metabolism of diabetic swine induced by feeding a high-fat/high-sucrose diet (HFSD), diabetic animal models were constructed by feeding swine with HFSD for 6 months. The effects of recombinant adiponectin were assessed by detecting the change of plasma glucose levels by commercially available enzymatic method test kits and evaluating the insulin sensitivity by oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). About 1.5 g purified recombinant adiponectin was produced using a 15-liter fermenter. A single injection of purified recombinant human adiponectin to diabetic swine led to a 2- to 3-fold elevation in circulating adiponectin, which triggered a transient decrease in basal glucose level (P<0.05). This effect on glucose was not associated with an increase in insulin level. Moreover, after adiponectin injection, swine also showed improved insulin sensitivity compared with the control (P<0.05). Adiponectin might have the potential to be a glucose-lowering agent for metabolic disease. Adiponectin as a potent insulin enhancer linking adipose tissue and glucose metabolism could be useful to treat insulin resistance.
Acta Biochimica et Biophysica Sinica 03/2007; 39(2):131-6. · 1.38 Impact Factor
