Charles University Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology Student: Veronika Váchalová Supervisor: Prof. PharmDr. František Štaud, Ph.D. Consultant: Mgr. Rona Karahoda Title of diploma thesis: The influence of antidepressants on serotonin homeostasis in placenta Depression is a serious mental disorder affecting 10-20% of women during pregnancy. Up to 10% of these pregnant women are prescribed antidepressants (ADs), most frequently from the class of selective serotonin (5-HT) reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). While the safety of this treatment is questionable due to reported impaired pregnancy/fetal outcomes, understanding of potential mechanistic causes is still lacking. During pregnancy, 5-HT is important for normal placental function and proper fetal development and programming. 5-HT homeostasis in the placenta is maintained via the 5-HT transporter (SERT/SLC6A4) on the apical side and the recently characterized organic cation transporter 3 (OCT3/SLC22A3) on the basal side of trophoblast. These transporters take up 5-HT from the maternal and fetal circulations, respectively into the syncytiotrophoblast (STB) where it is degraded by monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A). As all ADs interfere with the 5-HT system it is important to study their potential interactions in the...

Muscle, hypodermis and gastrointestinal epithelium from adult female Ascaris lumricoides var. summ were found to contain serotonin based upon glyoxylic acid induced histofluorescence and indirect immunolabeling with an anti-serotonin monoclonal antibody conjugated to protein A-colloidal gold.

This document only includes an excerpt of the corresponding thesis or dissertation. To request a digital scan of the full text, please contact the Ruth Lilly Medical Library's Interlibrary Loan Department (rlmlill@iu.edu).

This document only includes an excerpt of the corresponding thesis or dissertation. To request a digital scan of the full text, please contact the Ruth Lilly Medical Library's Interlibrary Loan Department (rlmlill@iu.edu).

This document only includes an excerpt of the corresponding thesis or dissertation. To request a digital scan of the full text, please contact the Ruth Lilly Medical Library's Interlibrary Loan Department (rlmlill@iu.edu).

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In this dissertation, I present novel optical tools for studying the uptake and release of serotonin in living brain tissue. These optical tools include small molecules that act as either substrates or antagonists of the serotonin transporter (SERT) and genetically encoded biosensors that work orthogonally to these small molecules to detect the release of endogenous serotonin in living brain tissue. Together, these optical methods comprise an imaging platform to study the uptake and release of serotonin in living brain tissue. One small molecule, SERTlight, has been employed to characterize the synaptic reuptake inhibitor (SynRI) properties of 12-methoxyibogamine (ibogaine) and its metabolites. Both in isolation and in complex with one another, these tools constitute new techniques for studying the uptake and release of serotonin in living brain tissue with improved spatial resolution, temporal resolution, and ease of use compared to previously established methods. It is the sincere hope of the Sames and Sulzer Laboratories that these tools will enable and inspire future generations of neuroscientists to study the serotonin system at synaptic resolution with the goal to better understand serotonin action in both normal and diseased states.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine), one of the biologically active amines, has been found in rather large quantities in the dorsal skin of Rana pipiens. Quantitative determination of the endogenous levels of the amine in the whole dorsal skin homogenate extracts were made on a Farrand spectroflourometer, and ranges of 120-200 micrograms per gram of fresh tissue were established. Comparison of whole skin homogenates and homogenates of just the dorsal cutaneous ridges, or dermal plicae, indicated that the amine is localized in these ridges. Acid treatment of the denser more fibrous portions of the homogenate prior to extraction more then noublcc the yields of serotonin. This result showed that the amine is found primarily in the deeper portions of the skin, very likely in the poison glands which are concentrated in the dermal plicae. Skin homogenates were also studied to determine if serotonin is actually synthesized in the skin. A precursor of the amine, 5-hydroxytryptophan, decarboxylates in tne presence of 5-hydroxytryrtophan decarooxylase to produce the amine. 5-hydroxytryrtophan was incubated with the homogenate, under nitrogen, for two hours to determine enzymic activity. Under the conditions of the experiment, no enzymic activity could be shown, indicating that serotonin is not produced in the skin of the frog in detectable amounts. The fact that serotonin levels are so high, and the lack of enzymic activity indicates that once synthesized serotonin is stored in an inactive form or is synthesized elsewhere and transnorted to the skin. / 2999-01-01