morphine’s effects on learning and memory processes are well known to depend on synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. whereas the role of the hippocampus in morphine-induced amnesia and state-dependent learning is established, the biochemical and molecular mechanisms underlying these processes are poorly understood. the present study intended to investigate whether administration of morphine ...

Sperm adhesion to egg zonae pellucidae initiates sperm acrosome reactions, an exocytotic event that is an early step during fertilization. Previously, it was suggested that zona pellucida-evoked Ca2+ entry into sperm through low voltage-activated Ca2+ channels is an essential step in acrosome reactions, based on the inhibitory effects of Ca2+ channel antagonists. However, analysis of this chann...

INTRODUCTION Current regulatory guidelines for assessing the risk of QT prolongation include in vitro assays assessing drug effects on the human ether-à-go-go-related (hERG; also known as Kv11.1) channel expressed in cell lines. These assays are typically conducted at room temperature to promote the ease and stability of recording hERG currents. However, the new Comprehensive in vitro Proarrhyt...

The goal of this study was to determine the effects of the L-type calcium channel blockers verapamil and diltiazem on the currents of voltage-gated potassium channel (fKv1.4ΔN), an N-terminal-deleted mutant of the ferret Kv1.4 potassium channel. Measurements were made using a two electrode voltage clamp technique with channels expressed stably in Xenopus oocytes. The fKv1.4ΔN currents displayed...

According to the classic modulated receptor hypothesis, local anesthetics (LAs) such as benzocaine and lidocaine bind preferentially to fast-inactivated Na channels with higher affinities. However, an alternative view suggests that activation of Na channels plays a crucial role in promoting high-affinity LA binding and that fast inactivation per se is not a prerequisite for LA preferential bind...

the extracardiac actions of calcium-channel belockers has little been studied.in fact,it has been demonstrated in a number of in viro studies,that calcium-channel belockers are involved in inflammation.here,we evaluated the dose-dependent Effects of verapamil and nifedipine on carrageenan-induced, acute inflammation in the rat paw compared to the anti-inflammatory activites of ibuprofen.the adu...

Objective: In a previous work, we showed that asafoetida essential oil (AEO), from oleo-gum resin of Ferula asafoetida L. from the Apiaceae family, has a vasodilatory effect. This effect was both endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent. The present study was designed to determine whether potassium channels and intracellular calcium release contribute to AEO-i...

Currents through the inwardly rectifying K channel were studied under whole-cell clamp of collagenase-treated single ventricular cells of guinea-pigs. The inwardly rectifying K channel was fully activated by hyperpolarizing the membrane from the equilibrium potential for K+ (EK) by 30-40 mV. Following depolarization above EK, a decaying outward current was elicited. Prolongation of the hyperpol...

We study an analog of the well-known Gel’fand Pinsker Channel which uses quantum states for the transmission of the data. We consider the case where both the sender’s inputs to the channel and the channel states are to be taken from a finite set (cq-channel with state information at the sender). We distinguish between causal and non-causal channel state information at the sender. The receiver r...