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The molecular mechanisms and role of purinergic signaling in hypothalamus
Ivetic, Milorad ; Zemková, Hana (advisor) ; Mysliveček, Jaromír (referee) ; Smejkalová, Terézia (referee)
(EN): Extracellular ATP and purinergic P2 receptors (P2X and P2Y) are involved in a signaling network called "purinergic signaling" which is widely exploited in both somatic and neuronal tissues, and is also operative in endocrine system. The main focus of my thesis is on the role and expression of P2X and P2Y receptors in hypothalamic supraoptic nuclei (SON) producing hormones vasopressin and oxytocin, and the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN), the principal circadian pacemaker in mammals. In the first part of my thesis, we tested the hypothesis that P2X and P2Y receptors play a role in the enhanced release of hormones from magnocellular SON neurons stimulated through fasting/refeeding experimental protocol. We studied the effect of 2 h of refeeding after 48 h of fasting on hormone, P2X and P2Y mRNA expression in the SON tissue of 30-day-old rats, and the effect of ATP on electrophysiological properties of SON neurons in brain slices from control and fasted/refed rats. Quantitative real-time PCR revealed that the expression of P2X2 and arginine-vasopressin (AVP) mRNA was increased and P2Y1 mRNA expression was decreased in fasted/refed rats compared to controls, whereas P2X4, P2X7, P2Y2 and oxytocin mRNA levels were not significantly changed. Whole-cell patch clamp recordings showed that the amplitude...
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