Publications by authors named "Rory A Fisher"

JOURNAL/nrgr/04.03/01300535-202510000-00027/figure1/v/2024-11-26T163120Z/r/image-tiff Hippocampal neuronal loss causes cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease. Adult hippocampal neurogenesis is reduced in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

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Mesolimbic dopamine (DA) transmission is believed to play a critical role in mediating reward responses to drugs of abuse, including alcohol (EtOH). The neurobiological mechanisms underlying EtOH-seeking behavior and dependence are not fully understood, and abstinence remains the only effective way to prevent alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Here, we developed novel RGS6; DAT-iCreER mice to determine the role of RGS6 in DA neurons on EtOH consumption, reward, and relapse behaviors.

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The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2023/24 is the sixth in this series of biennial publications. The Concise Guide provides concise overviews, mostly in tabular format, of the key properties of approximately 1800 drug targets, and about 6000 interactions with about 3900 ligands. There is an emphasis on selective pharmacology (where available), plus links to the open access knowledgebase source of drug targets and their ligands (www.

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Mesolimbic dopamine (DA) transmission is believed to play a critical role in mediating reward responses to drugs of abuse, including alcohol (EtOH). EtOH is the most abused substance worldwide with chronic consumption often leading to the development of dependence and abuse. Unfortunately, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying EtOH-seeking behavior and dependence are not fully understood, and abstinence remains the only effective way to prevent alcohol use disorders (AUDs).

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Unlabelled: Hippocampal neuronal loss causes cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) is reduced in AD patients. Exercise stimulates AHN in rodents and improves memory and slows cognitive decline in AD patients.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The accurate determination of transgene zygosity in transgenic mice is important for research, but current methods are often time-consuming and prone to errors.
  • - A new method has been developed that uses allele-specific restriction enzyme digestion of PCR products to quickly and reliably quantify transgene zygosity without needing to know the insertion loci.
  • - This new approach is as accurate as traditional progeny testing but significantly faster (2 days versus over a month), and it outperforms qPCR quantification methods, marking a major advancement in the field.
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The Concise Guide to PHARMACOLOGY 2021/22 is the fifth in this series of biennial publications. The Concise Guide provides concise overviews, mostly in tabular format, of the key properties of nearly 1900 human drug targets with an emphasis on selective pharmacology (where available), plus links to the open access knowledgebase source of drug targets and their ligands (www.guidetopharmacology.

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Parkinson disease (PD) is a devastating, largely nonfamilial, age-related disorder caused by the progressive loss of dopamine (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). Release of DA from these neurons into the dorsal striatum is crucial for regulating movement and their loss causes PD. Unfortunately, the mechanisms underlying SNc neurodegeneration remain unclear, and currently there is no cure for PD, only symptomatic treatments.

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Cascade-specific termination of G protein signaling is catalyzed by the RGS (regulator of G protein signaling) family members, including . Angiotensin, vasopressin, and endothelin are implicated in preeclampsia, and is known to inhibit G protein cascades activated by these hormones. Mutations in are associated with human hypertension and increased risk of developing preeclampsia and its sequelae.

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Recent studies of leukemic tumors in individual extramedullary sites showed they adopt the clinical and metastatic behavior of solid cancers originating in those sites. To elucidate features of leukemic tumors that render them resistant to agents effective against marrow leukemia, we analyzed a series of AML breast tumors by histology, immunohistochemistry, and RNA sequencing. Striking histologic similarities to solid cancers were found: a single-filing architectural pattern virtually identical to that of invasive lobular breast carcinoma and dense desmoplastic keloid-like fibrosis similar to colon, gallbladder, and pancreas carcinomas.

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Parkinson's is primarily a non-familial, age-related disorder caused by α-synuclein accumulation and the progressive loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-cAMP signaling has been linked to a reduction in human Parkinson's incidence and α-synuclein expression. Neuronal cAMP levels are controlled by GPCRs coupled to Gs or Gi/o, which increase or decrease cAMP, respectively.

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G protein-coupled receptor signaling mechanisms are implicated in many aspects of cardiovascular control, and dysfunction of such signaling mechanisms is commonly associated with disease states. Investigators have identified a large number of regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) proteins that variously contribute to the modulation of intracellular second-messenger signaling kinetics. These many RGS proteins each interact with a specific set of second-messenger cascades and receptor types and exhibit tissue-specific expression patterns.

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Background: Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defects worldwide. Although defective Notch signaling is the major cause of mouse embryonic death from cardiovascular defects, how Notch signaling is regulated during embryonic vasculogenesis and heart development is poorly understood.

Methods And Results: Regulator of G protein signaling 6 (RGS6)/Ca/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) double mutant mice were developed by crossing RGS6 mice with mice expressing an oxidation-resistant CaMKIIδ (CaMKII), and the resulting embryonic defects/lethality were investigated using E7.

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Gαi-coupled receptors play important roles in protecting the heart from ischemic injury. Regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) proteins suppress Gαi signaling by accelerating the GTPase activity of Gαi subunits. However, the roles of individual RGS proteins in modulating ischemic injury are unknown.

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Regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) proteins are gatekeepers regulating the cellular responses induced by G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR)-mediated activation of heterotrimeric G proteins. Specifically, RGS proteins determine the magnitude and duration of GPCR signaling by acting as a GTPase-activating protein for Gα subunits, an activity facilitated by their semiconserved RGS domain. The R7 subfamily of RGS proteins is distinguished by two unique domains, DEP/DHEX and GGL, which mediate membrane targeting and stability of these proteins.

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Regulator of G protein signaling 6 (RGS6) is unique among the members of the RGS protein family as it remains the only protein with the demonstrated capacity to control G protein-dependent and -independent signaling cascades in vivo. RGS6 inhibits signaling mediated by γ-aminobutyric acid B receptors, serotonin 1A receptors, μ opioid receptors, and muscarinic acetylcholine 2 receptors. RGS6 deletion triggers distinct behavioral phenotypes resulting from potentiated signaling by these G protein-coupled receptors namely ataxia, a reduction in anxiety and depression, enhanced analgesia, and increased parasympathetic tone, respectively.

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Here, we provide an overview of the role of regulator of G protein-signaling (RGS) proteins in signaling by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), the latter of which represent the largest class of cell surface receptors in humans responsible for transducing diverse extracellular signals into the intracellular environment. Given that GPCRs regulate virtually every known physiological process, it is unsurprising that their dysregulation plays a causative role in many human diseases and they are targets of 40-50% of currently marketed pharmaceuticals. Activated GPCRs function as GTPase exchange factors for Gα subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins, promoting the formation of Gα-GTP and dissociated Gβγ subunits that regulate diverse effectors including enzymes, ion channels, and protein kinases.

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Alcohol is the most commonly abused drug worldwide, and chronic alcohol consumption is a major etiological factor in the development of multiple pathological sequelae, including alcoholic cardiomyopathy and hepatic cirrhosis. Here, we identify regulator of G protein signaling 6 (RGS6) as a critical regulator of both alcohol-seeking behaviors and the associated cardiac and hepatic morbidities through two mechanistically divergent signaling actions. RGS6(-/-) mice consume less alcohol when given free access and are less susceptible to alcohol-induced reward and withdrawal.

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Parkinson disease (PD) is characterized by the preferential, but poorly understood, vulnerability to degeneration of midbrain dopaminergic (mDA) neurons in the ventral substantia nigra compacta (vSNc). These sensitive mDA neurons express Pitx3, a transcription factor that is critical for their survival during development. We used this dependence to identify, by flow cytometry and expression profiling, the negative regulator of G-protein signaling Rgs6 for its restricted expression in these neurons.

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Targeting serotonin (5-HT) bioavailability with selective 5-HT reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) remains the most widely used treatment for mood disorders. However, their limited efficacy, delayed onset of action, and side effects restrict their clinical utility. Endogenous regulator of G-protein signaling (RGS) proteins have been implicated as key inhibitors of 5-HT(1A)Rs, whose activation is believed to underlie the beneficial effects of SSRIs, but the identity of the specific RGS proteins involved remains unknown.

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Breast cancer is a large global health burden and the most frequently diagnosed malignancy in women worldwide. Here, we utilize RGS6(-/-) mice to interrogate the role of regulator of G protein signaling 6 (RGS6), localized to the ductal epithelium in mouse and human breast, as a novel tumor suppressor in vivo. RGS6(-/-) mice exhibit accelerated 7,12-dimethylbenza[α]anthracene (DMBA)-induced tumor initiation and progression, as well as decreased overall survival.

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Clinical use of the widely used chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin is limited by life-threatening cardiotoxicity. The mechanisms underlying doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy and heart failure remain unclear but are thought to involve p53-mediated myocardial cell apoptosis. The tripartite G-protein inactivating protein RGS6 has been implicated in reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, ATM/p53 activation, and apoptosis in doxorubicin-treated cells.

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The purpose of this protocol is to describe various methodologies used to detect the distribution and localization of specific proteins within individual cells or tissues using immunostaining, defined as the use of specific antibodies to detect a single target protein. Detection of antigens in cultured cells is referred to as immunocytochemistry, whereas their detection in tissues is generally referred to as immunohistochemistry. Both methods involve exposure of fixed cells or tissues to primary antibodies directed against one or more proteins of interest.

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