The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is a region of the brain critical in mediating behavioral and physiological responses to stress and anxiety. Stress is a major cause of relapse for drug addicts attempting to abstain from drugs of abuse. The BNST receives a dense projection of the stress hormone norepinephrine (NE) from the nucleus tractus solitarus, and this projection is critical in stress-induced relapse to drug-seeking in rodent models. NE acts via adrenergic receptors (AR), including the alpha2A-AR subtype of the alpha2-ARs.
This thesis describes work utilizing electrophysiology and immunohistochemistry approaches to characterize the function and localization of the alpha2A-AR in the dorsal BNST. We provide evidence supporting a heterosynaptic localization of the alpha2A-AR on presynaptic glutamate terminals where it functions to regulate glutamate release. We also demonstrate that activation of alpha2-ARs modulates GABAergic transmission in the dorsal BNST.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-06122009-161841 |
| Date | 15 June 2009 |
| Creators | Shields, Angela Delight |
| Contributors | Randy Blakely, Al Beth, Roger Colbran, Aurelio Galli, Eric Delpire |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-06122009-161841/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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