“
“Research Group on Alcohol and Pharmacodependence (GRAP) – INSERM ERI 24 – SFR Cap Sante – Pharmacy School, Universite de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France selleck kinase inhibitor Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA We previously found that the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the dorsolateral striatum (DLS) is part of a homeostatic pathway that gates ethanol self-administration [Jeanblanc et al. (2009). J Neurosci, 29, 13494–13502)]. Specifically, we showed that moderate levels (10%) of ethanol consumption increase BDNF expression

within the DLS, and that direct infusion of BDNF into the DLS decreases operant self-administration of a 10% ethanol solution. BDNF binding to its receptor, TrkB, activates the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), phospholipase C-γ (PLC-γ) and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathways. Thus, here, we set out to identify which of these intracellular pathway(s) plays a role in the regulation of ethanol consumption by BDNF. We found that inhibition of the MAPK,

but not PLC-γ or PI3K, activity blocks the BDNF-mediated reduction of ethanol consumption. As activation of the MAPK pathway leads to the initiation of transcription and/or translation events, we tested whether the BDNF-mediated reduction of ethanol self-administration requires de novo protein synthesis. We found that the inhibitory effect of BDNF on ethanol intake is see more blocked by the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. Together, our results show that BDNF attenuates ethanol drinking via activation of the MAPK pathway in a protein synthesis-dependent manner within the DLS. “
“In contrast to mammals, adult zebrafish recover locomotor functions after spinal cord injury (SCI), in part due to axonal regrowth and regeneration permissivity of the

central nervous system. Upregulation of major vault protein (MVP) expression after spinal cord injury in the brainstem of the adult zebrafish prompted us to probe for its contribution to recovery after SCI. MVP is a multifunctional protein expressed not only in many types of tumours but also in Tyrosine-protein kinase BLK the nervous system, where its importance for regeneration is, however, unclear. Using an established zebrafish SCI model, we found that MVP mRNA and protein expression levels were increased in ependymal cells in the spinal cord caudal to the lesion site at 6 and 11 days after SCI. Double immunolabelling showed that MVP was co-localised with Islet-1 or tyrosine hydroxylase around the central canal of the spinal cord in sham-injured control fish and injured fish 11 days after surgery. MVP co-localised with the neural stem cell marker nestin in ependymal cells after injury.