| Project/Area Number |
14580734
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Nerve anatomy/Neuropathology
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| Research Institution | Showa University |
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Principal Investigator |
GUAN Jian-lian Showa Univ., Sch.Med., Assistant, 医学部, 助手 (20276538)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SHIODA Seiji Showa Univ., Sch.Med., Professor, 医学部, 教授 (80102375)
FUNAHASHI Hisayuki Showa Univ., Sch.Med., Assistant Professor, 医学部, 講師 (20317514)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2002 – 2003
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2003)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥3,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,500,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000)
Fiscal Year 2002: ¥2,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000)
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| Keywords | ghrelin / neuropeptide Y / orexin / feeding regulation / synapse / signal transduction |
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| Research Abstract |
Ghrelin is a first identified peptide in stomach as an endogenous ligand for growth hormone-releasing factor receptor. Soon after it was discovered in the hypothalamus, it is shown to have a strong effect on appetite regulation. We studied the functional significance of ghrelin on feeding regulation by use of morphological and physiological methods. We first found that some of the orexin-positive axon terminals made synapses on ghrelin-positive neurons in the lateral hypothalamus. Orexin increased the cytosolic Ca concentration in ghrelin-containing neurons isolated from the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus. Ghrelin-positive neurons were sometimes found postsynaptically to glirelin-positie axon terminals. These findings suggest that orexin and ghrelin serve as transmitters and/or modulators that increase cytosolic Ca in ghrelin-containing neurons. It is suggested that orexin regulates the functions of ghrelin-containing neurons which participate in the control of feeding. Recently, we found that neuropeptide Y-and ghrelin-positive neurons could influence each other by synaptic transmission through synapses, and suggests that they will join a common effort to regulate the food-intake behavior through the complex synaptic relationships. Further detailed studies are needed to clarify appetite regulation in the hypothalamus and other brain regions.
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