In the present study, we examined the ameliorating effects of demethoxycurcumin (DMC) on memory impairment induced by scopolamine using passive avoidance and Morris water maze tests in mice. Moreover, to determine the neurobiological effects underlying the ameliorating effects of the DMC, choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) immunoreactivity was evaluated in mice exposed to scopolamine. Our results...

Clinical symptoms in multiple sclerosis include cognitive dysfunction. Difficulties in learning and remembering new information represent the most common cognitive deficit and are associated with a general and progressive brain pathology. Possible pathogenetic mechanisms for neuronal damage such as neuroprotective strategies are under active investigation also in experimental allergic encephalo...

KLP64D and KLP68D are members of the kinesin-II family of proteins in Drosophila. Immunostaining for KLP68D and ribonucleic acid in situ hybridization for KLP64D demonstrated their preferential expression in cholinergic neurons. KLP68D was also found to accumulate in cholinergic neurons in axonal obstructions caused by the loss of kinesin light chain. Mutations in the KLP64D gene cause uncoordi...

Exposure of animals to hypoxia produces cardiovascular changes including right ventricular hypertrophy and alterations in heart rate. The activity of choline acetyltransferase, a neurochemical marker of parasympathetic innervation, and the density of muscarinic cholinergic receptors, measured by the binding of [3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate, were analyzed in the hearts of guinea pigs exposed to hy...

Methods are presented for preparation of extracts from cultured cells from the nervous system and for study of choline acetyltransferase, acetylcholinesterase, glutamate decarboxylase, and catechol 0-methyltransferase activities. These enzyme activities are markers that can be used for studying gene expression in neurons. The methods are sufficiently sensitive so that all assays can be performe...

Methods are presented for preparation of extracts from cultured cells from the nervous system and for study of choline acetyltransferase, acetylcholinesterase, glutamate decarboxylase, and catechol 0-methyltransferase activities. These enzyme activities are markers that can be used for studying gene expression in neurons. The methods are sufficiently sensitive so that all assays can be performe...

The presence of a recessive inherited muscle disease in Old Danish Pointing Dogs has been well known for years. Comparisons of this disease with myasthenic diseases of other dog breeds and humans have pointed toward a defect in the synthesis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine possibly due to decreased activity of the enzyme choline acetyltransferase. We sequenced exons 5-18 of the gene encod...

Choline acetyltransferase mRNA and somal area increased selectively in the ventral nucleus basalis of rats trained that a tone signals immediate shock (i.e., predicts danger). Retrograde tracing showed the affected cells correspond to those that project to the auditory cortex. Behavior responses and mRNA increased significantly above those of control groups trained with the tone not signaling i...

Four monoclonal antibodies were obtained to rat brain choline acetyltransferase (CAT). The enzyme was purified 95,000-fold from rat brain by precipitation with acetic acid at pH 4.5, fractionation with 40 to 60% (NH4)2SO4, CM-Sephadex chromatography, and affinity column chromatography on agarose-hexane-coenzyme A. The enzyme preparation was applied to the affinity column in the presence of 10 m...

Necropsy brain tissue from normal (control) patients and patients with depression and dementia was examined for activities of various cholinergic components, and these related to the degree of senile plaque formation and extent of intellectual impairment. Choline acetyltransferase and acetylcholinesterase activities decreased significantly as the mean plaque count rose, and in depressed and dem...