Low expression of D2R and Wntless correlates with high motivation for heroin.

Drug overdose now exceeds car accidents as the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. Of those drug overdoses, a large percentage of the deaths are due to heroin and/or pharmaceutical overdose, specifically misuse of prescription opioid analgesics. It is imperative, then, that we understand the mechanisms that lead to opioid abuse and addiction.

Gaucher's disease and cancer: a sphingolipid perspective.

Gaucher's disease is a sphingolipidosis characterized by a specific deficiency in an acidic glucocerebrosidase, which results in aberrant accumulation of glucosylceramide primarily within the lysosome. Gaucher's disease has been correlated with cases of myeloma, leukemia, glioblastoma, lung cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma, although the reasons for the correlation are currently being debated. Some suggest that the effects of Gaucher's disease may be linked to cancer, while others implicate the therapies used to treat Gaucher's disease.

Calcium phosphosilicate nanoparticles for imaging and photodynamic therapy of cancer.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as an alternative modality for cancer treatment. PDT works by initiating damaging oxidation or redox-sensitive pathways to trigger cell death. PDT can also regulate tumor angiogenesis and modulate systemic antitumor immunity.

Interaction between the D2 dopamine receptor and neuronal calcium sensor-1 analyzed by fluorescence anisotropy.

Neuronal calcium sensor-1 (NCS-1) is a small calcium binding protein that plays a key role in the internalization and desensitization of activated D2 dopamine receptors (D2Rs). Here, we have used fluorescence anisotropy (FA) and a panel of NCS-1 EF-hand variants to interrogate the interaction between the D2R and NCS-1. Our data are consistent with the following conclusions.