title: Effects of nociceptin and analogues of nociceptin upon spontaneous dorsal root activity recorded from an in vitro preparation of rat spinal cord.
abstract: The 17 amino acid peptide nociceptin has been implicated in pain modulation in the central nervous system. The effects of bath applied nociceptin, and some analogues of nociceptin, upon spontaneous lumbar dorsal root activity have been investigated in an isolated preparation of rat spinal cord. Nociceptin was found to reversibly depress spontaneous dorsal root activity at concentrations of 1.0 microM and 10.0 microM (IC50 2.0 microM), whereas acetyl-nociceptin at concentrations up to 10 microM had no detectable effect. Omission of the last four amino acids (nociceptin 1-13), increased the potency of the effect upon dorsal root activity by approximately 100-fold (IC50 30 nM), but activity was lost when only the first seven amino acids of the nociceptin molecule (nociceptin 1-7) were tested.
authors.affiliation: Cell Sciences Division, School of Biological Sciences, Bassett Crescent East, Southampton University, Southampton SO16 7PX, UK.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maile
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Ram P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bagust
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D018847:Opioid Peptides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D010455:Peptides / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000502:physiology; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D014665:Vasodilator Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000097629:Nociceptin
chemical_list: D018847:Opioid Peptides; D010455:Peptides; D014665:Vasodilator Agents; D000097629:Nociceptin