Skip to main content

Filter Search Results

Publication Year

Animal Models

Topic Area

Methods

Small Business

Collaborating ICs

Selected Grantee Publications

Functional and Ultrastructural Analysis of Reafferent Mechanosensation in Larval Zebrafish

Odstrcil et al., Current Biology. 2022.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098222101530X

All animals need to differentiate between exafferent stimuli (caused by the environment) and reafferent stimuli (caused by their own movement). Researchers characterized how hair cells in zebrafish larvae discriminate between reafferent and exafferent signals. Dye labeling of the lateral line nerve and functional imaging was combined with ultra-structural electron microscopy circuit reconstruction to show that cholinergic signals originating from the hindbrain transmit efference copies, and dopaminergic signals from the hypothalamus may affect threshold modulation. Findings suggest that this circuit is the core implementation of mechanosensory reafferent suppression in these young animals. Supported by ORIP (R43OD024879, R44OD024879) and NINDS.

The High Affinity Dopamine D2 Receptor Agonist MCL-536: A New Tool for Studying Dopaminergic Contribution to Neurological Disorders

Subburaju et al., ACS Chemical Neuroscience. 2021.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acschemneuro.1c00094

The dopamine D2 receptor exists in two different states, D2high and D2low; the former is the functional form of the D2 receptor and associates with intracellular G-proteins. The D2 agonist [3H]MCL-536 has high affinity for the D2 receptor (Kd 0.8 nM) and potently displaces the binding of (R-(-)-N-n-propylnorapomorphine (NPA; Ki 0.16 nM) and raclopride (Ki 0.9 nM) in competition binding assays. The authors characterized [3H]MCL-536. [3H]MCL-536 as metabolically stable. In vitro autoradiography on transaxial and coronal brain sections showed specific binding of [3H]MCL-536. [3H]MCL-536's unique properties make it a valuable tool for research on neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease or schizophrenia. Supported by ORIP (R43OD020186, R44OD024615) and NIMH.