TY - JOUR
T1 - Distribution of neuropeptide W immunoreactivity and mRNA in adult rat brain
AU - Kitamura, Yoji
AU - Tanaka, Hirokazu
AU - Motoike, Toshiyuki
AU - Ishii, Makoto
AU - Williams, S. Clay
AU - Yanagisawa, Masashi
AU - Sakurai, Takeshi
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported in part by a grant-in-aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan, a grant for anorexia nervosa research from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and ERATO from the Japan Science and Technology Corporation.
PY - 2006/6/6
Y1 - 2006/6/6
N2 - Neuropeptide W (NPW) is a recently identified neuropeptide that binds to G-protein-coupled receptor (GPR) 7, which is highly expressed in several discrete regions of the rodent brain including the central amygdaloid nucleus and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. Although several reports suggested that NPW is implicated in the regulation of energy homeostasis and nociception, the precise physiological role of NPW has remained unclear. In this study, we examined distribution of NPW messenger RNA and NPW immunoreactivity in the adult rat brain. NPW-immunoreactive (ir) cells were detected in the ventral tegmental area, periaqueductal gray, and Edinger-Westphal nucleus. NPW-ir fibers were observed in several brain regions, including the lateral septum, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, dorsomedial and posterior hypothalamus, central amygdaloid nucleus, CA1 field of hippocampus, interpeduncular nucleus, inferior colliculus, lateral parabrachial nucleus, facial nucleus, and hypoglossal nucleus. NPW-ir fibers were most abundantly observed in the central amygdaloid nucleus and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, which are regions implicated in fear and anxiety. These results suggest that NPW might be involved in the regulation of stress and emotive responses, especially in fear and anxiety-related physiological and behavioral functions.
AB - Neuropeptide W (NPW) is a recently identified neuropeptide that binds to G-protein-coupled receptor (GPR) 7, which is highly expressed in several discrete regions of the rodent brain including the central amygdaloid nucleus and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. Although several reports suggested that NPW is implicated in the regulation of energy homeostasis and nociception, the precise physiological role of NPW has remained unclear. In this study, we examined distribution of NPW messenger RNA and NPW immunoreactivity in the adult rat brain. NPW-immunoreactive (ir) cells were detected in the ventral tegmental area, periaqueductal gray, and Edinger-Westphal nucleus. NPW-ir fibers were observed in several brain regions, including the lateral septum, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, dorsomedial and posterior hypothalamus, central amygdaloid nucleus, CA1 field of hippocampus, interpeduncular nucleus, inferior colliculus, lateral parabrachial nucleus, facial nucleus, and hypoglossal nucleus. NPW-ir fibers were most abundantly observed in the central amygdaloid nucleus and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, which are regions implicated in fear and anxiety. These results suggest that NPW might be involved in the regulation of stress and emotive responses, especially in fear and anxiety-related physiological and behavioral functions.
KW - Bed nucleus of the stria terminalis
KW - Brainstem
KW - Central amygdaloid nucleus
KW - Neuropeptide W
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U2 - 10.1016/j.brainres.2006.03.041
DO - 10.1016/j.brainres.2006.03.041
M3 - Article
C2 - 16697979
AN - SCOPUS:33745397752
SN - 0006-8993
VL - 1093
SP - 123
EP - 134
JO - Brain Research
JF - Brain Research
IS - 1
ER -