A novel nicotinic agonist facilitates induction of long-term potentiation in the rat hippocampus.
Long-term potentiation (LTP) can be modulated by a number of neurotransmitter receptors including muscarinic and GABAergic receptor types. We have found that a novel nicotinic agonist, 2,4-dimethoxybenzylidene anabaseine (DMXB), facilitated the induction of LTP in the hippocampus in a dose-dependent and mecamylamine-sensitive manner. DMXB displaced high affinity nicotinic [125I]alpha-bungarotoxin and [3H]acetylcholine binding in rat brain. Xenopus oocyte studies demonstrated that DMXB has agonist activity at alpha 7 but not alpha 4/beta 2 nicotinic receptor subtypes. These results indicated that DMXB is a novel nicotinic agonist with apparent specificity for the alpha 7/alpha-bungarotoxin nicotinic receptor subtype and indicate that nicotinic receptor activation is capable of modulating the induction of long-term potentiation.
Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville 32601.
B E
BE
Hunter
C M
CM
de Fiebre
R L
RL
Papke
W R
WR
Kem
E M
EM
Meyer
D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001597:Benzylidene Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001667:Binding, Competitive; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002038:Bungarotoxins / Q000378:metabolism; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007700:Kinetics; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D008464:Mecamylamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D009865:Oocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D011725:Pyridines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D014981:Xenopus; D064569:alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor
D001597:Benzylidene Compounds; D002038:Bungarotoxins; C579165:Chrna7 protein, rat; D011725:Pyridines; D011950:Receptors, Cholinergic; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic; D064569:alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor; D008464:Mecamylamine; D000109:Acetylcholine