Minireview. Galanin-acetylcholine interactions: relevance to memory and Alzheimer's disease.
The neuropeptide, galanin, and its receptors are localized in the cholinergic basal forebrain and its projection areas in mammalian brain. Centrally administered galanin inhibits acetylcholine release in the rat ventral hippocampus, and produces deficits in learning and memory tasks. In Alzheimer's disease, galanin is overexpressed in terminals innervating the nucleus basalis of Meynert cell bodies. Selective galanin receptor antagonists provide a novel approach for increasing cholinergic function, as a potential adjunct to the clinical treatment of dementias.
Crawley
J N
JN
Section on Behavioral Neuropharmacology, Experimental Therapeutics Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1380, USA. jncrawle@codon.nih.gov
D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D018680:Cholinergic Antagonists; D019004:Galanin / Q000378:metabolism*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008568:Memory; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D016548:Prosencephalon / Q000378:metabolism; D044088:Receptors, Galanin; D011964:Receptors, Gastrointestinal Hormone / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D015290:Second Messenger Systems
D018680:Cholinergic Antagonists; D044088:Receptors, Galanin; D011964:Receptors, Gastrointestinal Hormone; D019004:Galanin; D000109:Acetylcholine