Biomaterial Database

Guinea pig medial vestibular nucleus neurons in vitro respond to ACTH4-10 at picomolar concentrations. 1990

C L Darlington, and P F Smith, and J I Hubbard

Department of Physiology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

The responses of single guinea pig medial vestibular nucleus (MVN) neurons in vitro to adrenocorticotropic hormone, fragment 4-10 (ACTH4-10) were recorded extracellularly. In coronal slices and in the isolated MVN, neurons were found which responded to ACTH4-10 at picomolar concentrations (10(-12)M), indicating that ACTH4-10 acts directly on MVN neurons and suggesting the possibility that ACTH4-10 may act as a neurotransmitter in the MVN. In most cases where neurons responded to ACTH4-10 (37/74 neurons), the effect was a decrease in firing. Whether or not the depressive action of ACTH4-10 on the firing rate of MVN neurons in vitro is related to the acceleration of behavioral recovery from unilateral labyrinthectomy (vestibular compensation), which has been reported previously (Flohr and Luneburg 1982; Igarashi et al. 1985), is unclear.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007700	Kinetics	The rate dynamics in chemical or physical systems.
D008297	Male		Males
D008832	Microchemistry	The development and use of techniques and equipment to study or perform chemical reactions, with small quantities of materials, frequently less than a milligram or a milliliter.
D009474	Neurons	The basic cellular units of nervous tissue. Each neuron consists of a body, an axon, and dendrites. Their purpose is to receive, conduct, and transmit impulses in the NERVOUS SYSTEM.	Nerve Cells,Cell, Nerve,Cells, Nerve,Nerve Cell,Neuron
D010446	Peptide Fragments	Partial proteins formed by partial hydrolysis of complete proteins or generated through PROTEIN ENGINEERING techniques.	Peptide Fragment,Fragment, Peptide,Fragments, Peptide
D005260	Female		Females
D006168	Guinea Pigs	A common name used for the genus Cavia. The most common species is Cavia porcellus which is the domesticated guinea pig used for pets and biomedical research.	Cavia,Cavia porcellus,Guinea Pig,Pig, Guinea,Pigs, Guinea
D000324	Adrenocorticotropic Hormone	An anterior pituitary hormone that stimulates the ADRENAL CORTEX and its production of CORTICOSTEROIDS. ACTH is a 39-amino acid polypeptide of which the N-terminal 24-amino acid segment is identical in all species and contains the adrenocorticotrophic activity. Upon further tissue-specific processing, ACTH can yield ALPHA-MSH and corticotrophin-like intermediate lobe peptide (CLIP).	ACTH,Adrenocorticotropin,Corticotropin,1-39 ACTH,ACTH (1-39),Adrenocorticotrophic Hormone,Corticotrophin,Corticotrophin (1-39),Corticotropin (1-39),Hormone, Adrenocorticotrophic,Hormone, Adrenocorticotropic
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D013997	Time Factors	Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.	Time Series,Factor, Time,Time Factor