Browsing by Author "Alsharari, Shakir D."
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Item The analgesic-like properties of the alpha7 nAChR silent agonist NS6740 is associated with non-conducting conformations of the receptor(Pergamon-Elsevier Science, 2015-04) Papke, Roger L.; Kulkarni, Abhijit R.; Gould, Timothy; Alsharari, Shakir D.; Thakur, Ganesh A.; Damaj, M.Imad; Bagdaş, Deniz; Uludağ Üniversitesi/Tıp Fakültesi/Deney Hayvanları Yetiştirme ve Araştırma Merkezi.; 15062425700The alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) is a promising drug target for a number of neurological disorders including chronic pain and inflammatory diseases. Since alpha 7 can function as a ligand-gated ion channel, drug development initially focused on ligands that were selective activators of the alpha 7 ion channel. However, the best alpha 7 drugs for chronic pain and inflammation indications may not be ion channel activators but rather "silent agonists", which bind to the receptor but preferentially induce non-conducting states that modulate signal transduction in non-neuronal cells. One such compound is NS6740. We show that NS6740 selectively induces prolonged desensitization of alpha 7 nAChRs. There are two forms of alpha 7 desensitization that can be distinguished by their sensitivity to the positive allosteric modulators (PAMs). At high concentrations, NS6740 preferentially induces PAM-insensitive desensitization, which over the course of several minutes reverts to the sensitive form. NS6740 was tested in several pain models after in vivo administration in the mouse. Although it had no effects in acute thermal pain, NS6740 induced significant dose- and time-dependent antinociceptive activity in formalin- and acetic acid-induced nociceptive behaviors as well as in the chronic constrictive nerve injury (CCI) model for neuropathic pain. The antinociceptive activity of NS6740 in these models was alpha 7-dependent. In addition, NS6740 administration reversed pain-induced aversion, an important affective component of pain. The time and concentration dependence of the effects were consistent with NS6740 induction of PAM-insensitive non-conducting states, suggesting that signal transduction required for analgesia is accomplished by alpha 7 receptors in that conformation.Item Effects of paclitaxel on the development of neuropathy and affective behaviors in the mouse(Elsevier, 2017-05-01) Toma, Wisam; Kyte, S. Lauren; Alkhlaif, Yasmin; Alsharari, Shakir D.; Lichtman, Aron H.; Chen, Zhi-Jian; Del fabbro, Egidio; Bigbee, John W.; Gewirtz, David A.; Damaj, M. Imad; Bağdas, Deniz; Uludağ Üniversitesi/Veteriner Fakültesi/Deney Hayvanları Yetiştirme ve Araştırma Merkezi.; 15062425700Paclitaxel, one of the most commonly used cancer chemotherapeutic drugs, effectively extends the progression-free survival of breast, lung, and ovarian cancer patients. However, paclitaxel and other chemotherapy drugs elicit peripheral nerve fiber dysfunction or degeneration that leads to peripheral neuropathy in a large proportion of cancer patients. Patients receiving chemotherapy also often experience changes in mood, including anxiety and depression. These somatic and affective disorders represent major dose-limiting side effects of chemotherapy. Consequently, the present study was designed to develop a preclinical model of paclitaxel-induced negative affective symptoms in order to identify treatment strategies and their underlying mechanisms of action. Intraperitoneal injections of paclitaxel (8 mg/kg) resulted in the development and maintenance of mechanical and cold allodynia. Carboplatin, another cancer chemotherapeutic drug that is often used in combination with paclitaxel, sensitized mice to the nociceptive effects of paclitaxel. Paclitaxel also induced anxiety-like behavior, as assessed in the novelty suppressed feeding and light/dark box tests. In addition, paclitaxel-treated mice displayed depression-like behavior during the forced swim test and an anhedonia-like state in the sucrose preference test. In summary, paclitaxel produced altered behaviors in assays modeling affective states in C57BL/6J male mice, while increases in nociceptive responses were longer in duration. The characterization of this preclinical model of chemotherapy-induced allodynia and affective symptoms, possibly related to neuropathic pain, provides the basis for determining the mechanism(s) underlying severe side effects elicited by paclitaxel, as well as for predicting the efficacy of potential therapeutic interventions.Item Sex differences and drug dose influence the role of the alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in the mouse dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis model(Oxford University, 2017) Alsharari, Shakir D.; Akbarali, Hamid I.; Lichtman, Patraic A.; Raborn, Erinn S.; Cabral, Guy A.; Carroll, F. Ivy; McGee, Elizabeth A.; Damaj, M. Imad; Bağdaş, Deniz; Uludağ Üniversitesi/Tıp Fakültesi/Deney Hayvanları Yetiştiriciliği ve Araştırma Merkezi.; 15062425700Introduction: alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) play an important role in vagus nerve-based cholinergic anti-inflammatory effects. This study was designed to assess the role of alpha 7 nAChRs in dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis in male and female mouse. We first compared disease activity and pathogenesis of colitis in alpha 7 knockout and wild-type mice. We then evaluated the effect of several alpha 7 direct and indirect agonists on the severity of disease in the DSS-induced colitis. Methods: Male and female adult mice were administered 2.5% DSS solution freely in the drinking water for 7 consecutive days and the colitis severity (disease activity index) was evaluated as well as colon length, colon histology, and levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha colonic levels. Results: Male, but not female, alpha 7 knockout mice displayed a significantly increased colitis severity and higher tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels as compared with their littermate wild-type mice. Moreover, pretreatment with selective alpha 7 ligands PHA-543613, choline, and PNU-120596 decreased colitis severity in male but not female mice. The anti-colitis effects of these alpha 7 compounds dissipated when administered at higher doses. Conclusions: Our results suggest the presence of a alpha 7-dependent anti-colitis endogenous tone in male mice. Finally, our results show for the first time that female mice are less sensitive to the anticolitis activity of alpha 7 agonists. Ovarian hormones may play a key role in the sex difference effect of alpha 7 nAChRs modulation of colitis in the mouse. Implications: Our collective results suggest that targeting alpha 7 nAChRs could represent a viable therapeutic approach for intestinal inflammation diseases such as ulcerative colitis with the consideration of sex differences.