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Tyrosine Hydroxylase Activation in Mesocortical 3,4‐Dihydroxyphenylethylamine Neurons Following Footshock
Author(s) -
Iuvone P. Michael,
Dunn Adrian J.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1986.tb00687.x
Subject(s) - tyrosine hydroxylase , prefrontal cortex , endocrinology , medicine , neurotoxin , chemistry , dopamine , norepinephrine , neuroscience , biology , cognition
Mild electric footshock resulted in activation of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in prefrontal cortex of mice and rats. In mice, the activation was also observed following restraint. Shock‐evoked activation of prefrontal cortex TH was characterized by a decrease of apparent K m for the pterin cofactor 6‐methyl‐5,6,7,8‐tetrahydropterin and an increase of V max . Activation of prefrontal cortical TH was also demonstrated in vitro following preincubation under conditions that activate cyclic AMP‐dependent protein kinase. Treatment of mice with the noradrenergic neurotoxin N ‐2‐chloroethyl‐ N ‐ethyl‐2‐bromobenzylamine (DSP‐4) caused a 70% decrease in pre frontal cortex norepinephrine levels but had no significant effect on the activity of TH in that brain region. Footshock resulted in the activation of prefrontal cortex TH of DSP‐4‐treated mice, suggesting that shock‐evoked activation of the enzyme occurs in terminals of mesocortical 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylethylamine neurons.