Distribution and cellular localization of insulin-regulated aminopeptidase in the rat central nervous system.

Central infusions of angiotensin IV enhance spatial learning, memory retention and retrieval, neurotransmitter release, and long-term potentiation via interaction with a specific, high-affinity binding site. This site was recently purified and identified as the insulin-regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP). This enzyme was previously characterized as the marker protein of specialized insulin-responsive vesicles containing GLUT4 in muscle and adipose tissue.

Expression and plasticity of galanin systems in cortical neurons, oligodendrocyte progenitors and proliferative zones in normal brain and after spreading depression.

Neocortex contains very few galanin neurons but receives a moderate galanin innervation from various subcortical loci. Recent data suggest that galanin helps regulate the tonic neuronal excitability of hippocampus and probably cerebral cortex but relatively little is known about the anatomy and functional regulation of cortical galanin systems. Therefore, we examined, in the rat, the effect of the intense but benign stimulus, cortical spreading depression (CSD), on the expression of galanin and galanin receptors (GalR1 and GalR2) in the neocortex and associated regions, revealing complex, multicellular responses.

Differential galanin receptor-1 and galanin expression by 5-HT neurons in dorsal raphé nucleus of rat and mouse: evidence for species-dependent modulation of serotonin transmission.

Galanin and galanin receptors are widely expressed by neurons in rat brain that either synthesize/release and/or are responsive to, classical transmitters such as gamma-aminobutyric acid, acetylcholine, noradrenaline, histamine, dopamine and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT). The dorsal raphé nucleus (DRN) contains approximately 50% of the 5-HT neurons in the rat brain and a high percentage of these cells coexpress galanin and are responsive to exogenous galanin in vitro. However, the precise identity of the galanin receptor(s) present on these 5-HT neurons has not been previously established.