Topic: VGAT

The Bosch-Boonstra-Schaaf optic atrophy syndrome (BBSOAS; OMIN#615722), is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations in the NR2F1 gene, a transcriptional regulator playing pleiotropic functions in brain development. Most NR2F1 pathological variants are deletions and/or mutations leading to haploinsufficiency or dominant negative effects. Although BBSOAS is characterized by a wide array of clinical features, intellectual disability (ID), visual impairment, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are predominant. Notably, NR2F1 is identified as a risk gene for ASD (SFARI database), sugge

Neurons of the paraventricular thalamic nucleus (PVT) regulates emotional and motivational behavior via highly collateralized axon arbour innervating several forebrain areas. Maintaining an optimal excitation-inhibition balance is vital for PVT function, yet the sources of glutamatergic and GABAergic inputs are presently unclear. We identified subcortical glutamatergic and GABAergic inputs to the PVT by retrograde viral tracing in vGLUT2-Cre and vGAT-Cre mice, respectively. We found distinct retrogradely labelled cell groups containing purely vGLUT2+positive, purely vGAT+ or mixed neurons thro

Midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons are comprised of diverse neuronal subpopulations. For instance, there are subsets of DA neurons that express the vesicular glutamate transporter VGLUT2 and these cells can co-release the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate. There are also several lines of evidence indicating that the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) can be released from subsets of DA neurons. However, DA neurons do neither express the machinery to synthesize GABA nor the vesicular GABA transporter VGAT typically thought to be necessary for vesicular GABA uptake. Inste

Maternal high-fat diet (mHFD) during pregnancy leads to increased inflammation and oxidative stress, representing an important risk factor for fetal neurodevelopment. We have previously shown, in a mouse model of mHFD, sex-dimorphic negative outcomes in the adolescent offspring, disrupting hippocampal Bdnf-Nrf-2 crosstalk specifically in females. In this study, we hypothesize that sex-differences are still present during adulthood, affecting cognition and neurotransmission. Furthermore, we tested a maternal dietary supplementation with the antioxidant N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) as a preventive st

Knowing how to behave in the presence of an aggressive conspecific is essential for an individual's survival. For many rodents, olfactory cues are crucial for the animal to identify conspecifics and behave properly. An important region for the expression of social defense is the medial amygdala (MeA). This brain region receives projections from neurons in the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) and processes olfactory cues from conspecifics. The MeA is enriched by glutamatergic (VGLUT2) and GABAergic (VGAT) neurons. Interestingly, GABAergic neurons are predominantly located in the posterodorsal par

Glyphosate (Gly)-based herbicides (GBH), which are widely used worldwide, work by inhibiting the enzyme enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase, in the shikimate pathway, which functions in plants but not animals. Long-term exposure to GBH can cause toxic effects to the nervous system by affecting neurotransmitter expression, oxidative stress, anxiety, learning and memory impairments. Though Gly safety studies are still ongoing, little is known about the mechanistic processes underlying Gly neurotoxicity. Remarkably, few studies examined how the acceptable daily intake (ADI) dosage affects n