van den Burg, Erwin H. and Neumann, Inga D. (2011) Bridging the Gap between GPCR Activation and Behaviour: Oxytocin and Prolactin Signalling in the Hypothalamus. JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR NEUROSCIENCE, 43 (2). pp. 200-208. ISSN 0895-8696, 1559-1166
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
Neuropeptides of the brain are important neuromodulators, controlling behaviour and physiology. They signal through G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) that couple to complex intracellular signalling pathways. These signalling networks integrate information from multiple sources, resulting in appropriate physiological and behavioural responses to environmental and internal cues. This paper will focus on the neuropeptides oxytocin and prolactin with respect to (1) the regulation of neuroendocrine stress responses and anxiety, and (2) the receptor-mediated molecular mechanisms underlying these actions of the neuropeptides. Besides its significant reproductive functions when released into the bloodstream, brain oxytocin reduces the activity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis as well as anxiety-related behaviour in male and female rats. Oxytocin mediates its anxiolytic effect, at least in part, via binding to its GPCR in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, followed by transactivation of the epidermal growth factor receptor, and subsequent activation of a MEK-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) MAP kinase pathway. Prolactin, by binding to its GPCR receptors, of which there are short and long forms, also activates ERK, and this is necessary for the control of the expression of corticotrophin-releasing hormone-an important regulator of the HPA axis. Liganded oxytocin and prolactin may also recruit other signalling pathways, but how these pathways contribute to the observed behavioural and physiological effects remains to be established. GPCR-mediated oxytocin and prolactin neuronal signalling are illustrative of the complexity of GPCR-activated regulation of appropriate neuroendocrine and behavioural responses to environmental and physiological demands.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | PITUITARY-ADRENAL AXIS; NEUROENDOCRINE STRESS RESPONSES; RECEPTOR MESSENGER-RNA; FEMALE RAT-BRAIN; LACTATING RATS; STIMULATED NEUROGENESIS; NEUROHYPOPHYSEAL SYSTEM; PARAVENTRICULAR NUCLEUS; PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESS; MATERNAL-BEHAVIOR; Neuropeptides; Anxiety; Stress; Paraventricular nucleus; Intracellular signalling |
| Subjects: | 500 Science > 590 Zoological sciences |
| Divisions: | Biology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Zoologie > Tierphysiologie/Neurobiologie (Prof. Dr. Inga Neumann) |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 26 Jun 2020 07:46 |
| Last Modified: | 26 Jun 2020 07:46 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/21320 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
