Cannabinoids exert pleiotropic actions in the CNS, including the inhibition of inflammatory responses and the enhancement of neuronal survival after injury. Although cannabinoid receptors are distributed widely in brain, their presence has not been investigated previously in oligodendrocytes. This study examined the expression of cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptors in rat oligodendrocytes in vivo and in culture and explored their biological function. Expression of CB1 receptors by oligodendrocytes was demonstrated immunocytochemically in postnatal and in adult white matter as well as in oligodendrocyte cultures. Reverse transcription-PCR and Western blotting further confirmed the presence of CB1 receptors. Oligodendrocyte progenitors undergo apoptosis with the withdrawal of trophic support, as determined by TUNEL assay and caspase-3 activation, and both the selective CB1 agonist arachidonyl-2'-chloroethylamide/(all Z)-N-(2-cycloethyl)-5,8,11,14-eicosatetraenamide (ACEA) and the nonselective cannabinoid agonists HU210 and (+)-Win-55212-2 enhanced cell survival. To investigate intracellular signaling involved in cannabinoid protection, we focused on the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway. HU210, (+)-Win-55212-2, and ACEA elicited a time-dependent phosphorylation of Akt. Pertussis toxin abolished Akt activation, indicating the involvement of G(i)/G(o)-protein-coupled receptors. The CB1 receptor antagonist SR141716A partially inhibited Akt phosphorylation in response to HU210 and (+)-Win-55212-2 and abolished the effects of ACEA. Trophic support deprivation downregulated Akt activity, and cannabinoids recovered phospho-Akt levels. Inhibition of PI3K abrogated the survival action and the recovery of Akt activity in response to cannabinoids. SR141716A prevented only the protection conferred by ACEA. Nevertheless, SR141716A and the selective CB2 receptor antagonist SR144528 in combination inhibited the prosurvival action of HU210, which is in accordance with the finding of CB2 receptor expression by oligodendroglial cells. These data identify oligodendrocytes as potential targets of cannabinoid action in the CNS.

These findings contribute to evidence identifying the σ(1) receptor as a modulator of activity-induced spinal sensitization and pain hypersensitivity, and suggest σ(1) receptor antagonists as potential novel treatments for neuropathic pain.

Increasing evidence associates schizophrenia with prenatal exposure to infection. Impaired ability to "gate out" sensory and cognitive information is considered to be a central feature of schizophrenia and is manifested, among others, in disrupted prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle reflex. We analyzed the effect of a prenatal immune challenge-peripheral administration of bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to pregnant female rats-upon PPI and immune function in adult offspring. Prenatal LPS treatment disrupted PPI which was reversed by antipsychotics. Serum levels of interleukin-2 and interleukin-6 were increased. In addition, histopathological features in brain areas related with PPI circuitry were observed. These results illustrate the critical influence of prenatal immune events upon adult CNS functioning in association with the putative role of the immune system in (Braff et al. 1978;Kumari et al. 1999). A well-established sensorimotor gating paradigm is the prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle response. PPI refers to the reduction in startle reactivity toward an intense pulse stimulus when it is shortly preceded by a weak prepulse stimulus (Hoffman and Ison 1980). It is thought that the prepulse response activates an inhibitory process that attenuates or "gates" the startle response. Because identical stimulus parameters can be used for animal and human studies, it is considered that animal models of PPI disruption represent a promising way to study the neural mechanisms underlying sensorimotor gating dysfunction (Swerdlow et al. 1994(Swerdlow et al. , 1999Swerdlow and Geyer 1998) and as a screening test for potential antipsychotics (Swerdlow et al. 1994;Depoortere et al. 1997). In fact, antipsychotics remove PPI deficits in schizophrenic patients (Kumari et al. 1999;Weike et al. 2000). Nevertheless, it must be taken into consideration that deficiency of PPI has been reported in other selected neuropsychiatric disorders where inability to inhibit movements is involved (Huntington's disease (Swerdlow et al. 1995 Tourette's syndrome (Castellanos et al. 1996)), where inability to control attentional and cognitive processes is involved (obsessive-compulsive disorder (Swerdlow et al. 1993)), or where anxiety and exaggerated startle occur (posttraumatic stress disorder (Grillon et al. 1996)). The focus of schizophrenia research has been turning from studies of structural and functional brain abnormalities to an increasing emphasis on possible etiologic factors. Neurodevelopmental theories of schizophrenia postulate that the psychopathology of schizophrenia may derive from alterations of brain organization secondary to defective ontogenesis (Weinberger 1996;Raedler et al. 1998). A causal relationship pertaining to disturbed brain ontogenesis and schizophrenia comes from epidemiological studies that have identified several risk factors that, acting during pregnancy, increase the incidence of the disease in offspring. Maternal infection with influenza virus in the second trimester of preg...

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Aims: The in vivo pharmacology of the sigma 1 receptor (σ1R) is certainly complex; however, σ1R antagonists are of therapeutic interest, because they enhance mu-opioid receptor (MOR)-mediated antinociception and reduce neuropathic pain. Thus, we investigated whether the σ1R is involved in the negative control that glutamate N-methyl-d-aspartate acid receptors (NMDARs) exert on opioid antinociception. Results: The MOR C terminus carries the histidine triad nucleotide-binding protein 1 (HINT1) coupled to the regulator of G-protein signaling RGSZ2-neural nitric oxide synthase assembly. Activated MORs stimulate the production of nitric oxide (NO), and the redox zinc switch RGSZ2 converts this signal into free zinc ions that are required to recruit the redox sensor PKCγ to HINT1 proteins. Then, PKCγ impairs HINT1-RGSZ2 association and enables σ1R-NR1 interaction with MOR-HINT1 complexes to restrain opioid signaling. The inhibition of NOS or the absence of σ1Rs prevents HINT1-PKCγ interaction, and MOR-NMDAR cross-regulation fails. The σ1R antagonists transitorily remove the binding of σ1Rs to NR1 subunits, facilitate the entrance of negative regulators of NMDARs, likely Ca2+-CaM, and prevent NR1 interaction with HINT1, thereby impairing the negative feedback of glutamate on opioid analgesia. Innovation: A redox-regulated process situates MOR signaling under NMDAR control, and in this context, the σ1R binds to the cytosolic C terminal region of the NMDAR NR1 subunit. Conclusion: The σ1R antagonists enhance opioid analgesia in naïve mice by releasing MORs from the negative influence of NMDARs, and they also reset antinociception in morphine tolerant animals. Moreover, σ1R antagonists alleviate neuropathic pain, probably by driving the inhibition of up-regulated NMDARs. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 22, 799–818.