Drug addiction results from a subversion of neural circuits that control motivation. Although the hedonic and addictive properties of psychostimulants and drugs of abuse are predominantly attributed to dopamine and glutamate, it is appreciated that other signaling molecules in the brain are important. This study suggests that cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) peptides modulat...

CART peptides are peptide neurotransmitters and hormones that are involved in many different physiological responses. While much is known about the peptides regarding their structure, processing and gene regulation, less is known about their postsynaptic actions and receptors. Using (125)I-CART 61-102 as a ligand and unlabeled CART 61-102 or CART 55-102 as displacers, high-affinity specific bin...

This study provides a detailed description of cocaine-and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) distribution and the co-localization pattern of CART and gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH), somatostatin (SOM), neuropeptide Y (NPY), cholecystokinin (CCK), and substance P (SP) in the preoptic area (POA) of the domestic pig. The POA displays a low density of immunoreactive cells and rich immun...

Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) provide a promising new approach for generating T cell populations for the adoptive immunotherapy of cancer. CAR T cell (CART) therapies demonstrate activity against leukemias in preclinical and clinical studies, but CART targeting solid tumors have been less impressive. We hypothesized that the observed differences could be due to a more hostile microenvironme...

BACKGROUND Combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) initiation during primary human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (PHI) yields a larger decrease in cell-associated HIV-DNA (CA-HIV-DNA) than initiation during the chronic phase. Our objective was to model the short and long-term decay of CA-HIV-DNA blood reservoir in patients initiating cART during PHI and to assess the impact of the timin...

Vagal CCK-A receptors (CCKARs) and leptin receptors (LRbs) interact synergistically to mediate short-term satiety. Cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) peptide is expressed by vagal afferent neurons. We sought to demonstrate that this neurotransmitter regulates CCK and leptin actions on short-term satiety. We also examined the signal transduction pathways responsible for mediati...

Synaptic transmission from Drosophila photoreceptors to lamina neurons requires recycling of histamine neurotransmitter. Synaptic histamine is cleared by uptake into glia and conversion into carcinine, which functions as transport metabolite. How carcinine is transported from glia to photoreceptor neurons remains unclear. In a targeted RNAi screen for genes involved in this pathway, we identifi...

AIDS deaths among adolescents are increasing globally. This qualitative study investigated the barriers and facilitators to cART adherence among Peruvian adolescents living with HIV. Guided by a social ecological model, we analyzed transcripts from 24 psychosocial support groups for HIV-positive adolescents aged 13-17 years and 15 individual, in-depth interviews with cART providers and caregive...

Cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript (CART) encodes a novel brain-enriched protein whose features are reminiscent of a neurotransmitter propeptide. We have now localized CART peptide(s) in the gastrointestinal tract by immunohistochemical methods. Polyclonal antisera raised to CART peptide 106-129 stained neuronal cell bodies and fibers in rat ileum myenteric plexus-longitudinal muscle ...

This paper relates to the construction and testing of a solarpowered golf cart and the future incorporation of a fuel cell system to the existing solar cart. The prototype built in 2004 [fig 1] proved to be very successful. The combination of unique features such as the tracking of the sun resulted in the increase of output power with respect to other solar carts. In addition, the cart turns in...