Open AccessIdentifying c-fos Expression as a Strategy to Investigate the Actions of General Anesthetics on the Central Nervous System
Author(s) -
Donghang Zhang,
Jin Liu,
Tao Zhu,
Cheng Zhou
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
current neuropharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.955
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1875-6190
pISSN - 1570-159X
DOI - 10.2174/1570159x19666210909150200
Subject(s) - neuroscience , unconsciousness , wakefulness , general anesthetics , biological neural network , c fos , premovement neuronal activity , central nervous system , immediate early gene , medicine , anesthesia , electroencephalography , gene expression , biology , anesthetic , gene , biochemistry
Although general anesthetics have been used in the clinic for more than 170 years, the ways in which they induce amnesia, unconsciousness, analgesia, and immobility remain elusive. Modulations of various neural nuclei and circuits are involved in the actions of general anesthetics. The expression of the immediate-early gene c-fos and its nuclear product, c-fos protein, can be induced by neuronal depolarization; therefore, c-fos staining is commonly used to identify the activated neurons during sleep and/or wakefulness, as well as in various physiological conditions in the central nervous system. Identifying c-fos expression is also a direct and convenient method to explore the effects of general anesthetics on the activity of neural nuclei and circuits. Using c-fos staining, general anesthetics have been found to interact with sleep- and wakefulness-promoting systems throughout the brain, which may explain their ability to induce unconsciousness and emergence from general anesthesia. This review summarizes the actions of general anesthetics on neural nuclei and circuits based on a c-fos expression.