Norepinephrine signaling

The amine hypothesis of major depression. Depression appears to be associated with changes in serotonin or norepinephrine signaling in the brain (or both) with significant downstream effects. Most antidepressants cause changes in amine signaling. AC,... 

The entire process of heat generation from brown fat, called nonshivering thermogenesis, is regulated by norepinephrine. (In shivering thermogenesis, heat is produced by nonvoluntary muscle contraction.) Norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter released from specialized neurons that terminate in brown adipose tissue, initiates a cascade mechanism that ultimately hydrolyzes fat molecules. The fatty acid products of fat hydrolysis activate the uncoupler protein. Fatty acid oxidation continues until the norepinephrine signal is terminated or the cell s fat reserves are depleted. 

Neurotransmitters are molecules that convey a signal from one nerve cell to the other. Neurotransmitters can be biogenic amines (e.g. norepinephrine, serotonin),... 

Figure 3.2 Normally, when the stomach is full it sends a signal to the brain telling the body to stop eating. This message is carried by neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the brain) to the hunger center in the hypothalamus (a part of the brain). Examples of neurotransmitters that carry this message are norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine. Many diet pills increase these same neurotransmitters that signal the brain that the stomach is full. These diet pills, called appetite suppressants, trick the brain into thinking the stomach is full and therefore decrease hunger.

The profound effects of Li+ upon phosphoinositide metabolism and cell signaling have been the subject of several recent reviews [54,81,85,86]. These effects are dependent upon receptor stimulation of the phosphoinositide cycle by a range of stimuli, including norepinephrine, serotonin, and carbachol the basal turnover of this cycle is largely unaffected by Li+ [82,87,88]. 

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the hypothalamic-pituitary axis work together as important modulators of the immune system after exposure to stressors. Norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (EPI) (catecholamines from the SNS) and neuroendocrine hormones modulate a range of immune cell activities, including cell proliferation, cytokine and antibody production, lytic activity, and migration. This chapter will focus on these two major pathways of brain-immune signaling, briefly summarizing the evidence for SNS and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) modulation of immune function, their influence on immune-mediated diseases, immune modulation in aging, and early life influences on these pathways. 

Amino acid derivatives include the thyroid hormones, catecholamines (e.g. adrenaline (epinephrine)) and dopamine, neurotransmitters such as y-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and noradrenaline (norepinephrine). All of these signalling molecules retain... 

Two amino acids, tyrosine and arginine are of particular importance as precursors of signalling molecules. As outlined in Figure 4.3, tyrosine is the amino acid precursor of thyroid hormones tri-iodothyronine (T3) and tetra-iodothyronine (T4) and also of catecholamines adrenaline (epinephrine) and noradrenaline (norepinephrine). 

In addition to their well known role in protein structure, amino acids also act as precursors to a number of other important biological molecules. For example, the synthesis of haem (see also Section 5.3.1), which occurs in, among other tissues, the liver begins with glycine and succinyl-CoA. The amino acid tyrosine which maybe produced in the liver from metabolism of phenylalanine is the precursor of thyroid hormones, melanin, adrenaline (epinephrine), noradrenaline (norepinephrine) and dopamine. The biosynthesis of some of these signalling molecules is described in Section 4.4. 

Several amino acids are broken down by de-carbo qflation. This reaction gives rise to what are known as biogenic amines, which have various functions. Some of them are components of biomolecules, such as ethanolamine in phospholipids (see p. 50). Cysteamine and T-alanine are components of coenzyme A (see p.l2) and of pantetheine (see pp. 108, 168). Other amines function as signaling substances. An important neurotransmitter derived from glutamate is y-aminobutyrate (GABA, see p.356). The transmitter dopamine is also a precursor for the catecholamines epinephrine and norepinephrine (see p.352). The biogenic amine serotonin, a substance that has many effects, is synthesized from tryptophan via the intermediate 5-hydroxytryptophan. 

Efferth T, Volm M (1992) Expression of protein kinase C in human renal cell cardnoma cells with inherent resistance to doxorubicin. Anticancer Res 12 2209-2211 Eguchi Y, Srinivasan A, Tomaselli KJ, Shimizu S, Tsujimoto Y (1999) ATP-dependent steps in apoptotic signal transduction. Cancer Res 59 2174-2181 Ek TP, Campbell MD, Deth RC, Gowraganahalli J (1989) Reduction of norepinephrine-induced tonic contraction and phosphoinositide turnover in arteries of spontaneously hypertensive rats. A possible role for protein kinase C. Am J Hy-pertens 2 40-45... 

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