Neuropathic pain, caused by various central and peripheral nerve disorders, is especially
problematic because of its severity, chronicity and resistance to simple analgesics. The
condition affects 2%–3% of the population, is costly to the health care system and is …

Iron-responsive elements (IREs) are the RNA stem-loops that control cellular iron
homeostasis by regulating ferritin translation and transferrin receptor mRNA stability. We
mapped a novel Iron-responsive Element (IRE-Type II) within the 5'untranslated region …

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) was discovered more than a century ago, and its known
roles have extended from within the immune system to include a neuro-inflammatory domain
in the nervous system. Neuropathic pain is a recognized type of pathological pain where …

The amyloid precursorprotein (APP) has been associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD)
because APP is processed into the β-peptide that accumulates in amyloid plaques, and APP
gene mutations can cause early onset AD. Inflammation is also associated with AD as …

Opioid receptors are known to undergo complex regulatory changes in response to ligand
exposure. In the present study, we examined the effect of morphine on the in vitro and in vivo
density and trafficking of δ opioid receptors (δORs). Prolonged exposure (48 hr) of cortical …

In Caenorhabditis elegans, an insulin-like signaling pathway to phosphatidylinositol 3-
kinase (PI 3-kinase) and AKT negatively regulates the activity of DAF-16, a Forkhead
transcription factor. We show that in mammalian cells, C. elegans DAF-16 is a direct target of …

A major unresolved issue in treating pain is the paradoxical hyperalgesia produced by the
gold-standard analgesic morphine and other opiates. We found that hyperalgesia-inducing
treatment with morphine resulted in downregulation of the K+-Cl− co-transporter KCC2 …

Heat shock factor 1 activates the promoters of heat shock genes at elevated temperatures
through its interaction with heat shock elements. We have examined a new role for heat
shock factor 1 in the repression of the prointerleukin 1β gene in human monocytes …

Background Bipolar disorder is characterized by fluctuating affect and mood, and is
associated with specific neurocognitive deficits consistent with neuropathology in cerebello–
striatal–prefrontal neural networks. This network is critical for emotion regulation. Methods …

A cell can regulate how it interacts with its external environment by controlling the number of
plasma membrane receptors that are accessible for ligand stimulation. G-protein-coupled
receptors (GPCRs) are the largest superfamily of cell surface receptors and have a …