5 documents found, page 1 of 1
Adenosine receptors are the on‐and‐off switch of astrocytic cannabinoid type 1 ...
Gonçalves-Ribeiro, Joana; Savchak, Oksana K.; Pinto, Sara; Gomes, Joana I.; Rivas‐Santisteban, Rafael; Lillo, Alejandro; Sánchez Romero, JavierThe medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is involved in cognitive functions such as working memory. Astrocytic cannabinoid type 1 receptor (CB1R) induces cytosolic calcium (Ca2+) concentration changes with an impact on neuronal function. mPFC astrocytes also express adenosine A1 and A2A receptors (A1R, A2AR), being unknown the crosstalk between CB1R and adenosine receptors in these cells. We show here that a further...
Astrocytes control hippocampal synaptic plasticity through the vesicular-depend...
Abreu, Daniela Sofia; Gomes, Joana I.; Ribeiro, Filipa; Diógenes, Maria José; Sebastião, Ana M; Vaz, Sandra H.Astrocytes, the most abundant glial cells in the central nervous system (CNS), sense synaptic activity and respond through the release of gliotransmitters, a process mediated by intracellular Ca2+ level changes and SNARE-dependent mechanisms. Ionotropic N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, which are activated by glutamate along with D-serine or glycine, play a crucial role in learning, memory, and synaptic pl...
Unexpected short- and long-term effects of chronic adolescent HU-210 exposure o...
Farinha Ferreira, Jorge Miguel; Rei, Nádia; Fonseca-Gomes, João; Miranda-Lourenço, Catarina; Serrão, Paula; Vaz, Sandra H.; Gomes, Joana I.Chronic adolescent cannabinoid receptor agonist exposure has been shown to lead to persistent increases in depressive-like behaviors. This has been a key obstacle to the development of cannabinoid-based therapeutics. However, most of the published work has been performed with only three compounds, namely Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, CP55,940 and WIN55,212-2. Hypothesizing that different compounds may lead to distin...
Of adenosine and the blues: the adenosinergic system in the pathophysiology and...
Gomes, Joana I.; Farinha Ferreira, Jorge Miguel; Rei, Nádia; Gonçalves-Ribeiro, Joana; Ribeiro, Joaquim A.; Sebastião, Ana M; Vaz, Sandra H.Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the foremost cause of global disability, being responsible for enormous personal, societal, and economical costs. Importantly, existing pharmacological treatments for MDD are partially or totally ineffective in a large segment of patients. As such, the search for novel antidepressant drug targets, anchored on a clear understanding of the etiological and pathophysiological mech...
Going the extra (synaptic) mile: excitotoxicity as the road toward neurodegener...
Armada-Moreira, Adam; Gomes, Joana I.; Pina, Carolina Campos; Savchak, Oksana K.; Gonçalves-Ribeiro, Joana; Rei, Nádia; Pinto, Sara; Morais, Tatiana P.Excitotoxicity is a phenomenon that describes the toxic actions of excitatory neurotransmitters, primarily glutamate, where the exacerbated or prolonged activation of glutamate receptors starts a cascade of neurotoxicity that ultimately leads to the loss of neuronal function and cell death. In this process, the shift between normal physiological function and excitotoxicity is largely controlled by astrocytes si...