Intra- and interregional coregulation of opioid genes: broken symmetry in spinal circuits.

ABSTRACT: Regulation of the formation and rewiring of neural circuits by neuropeptides may require coordinated production of these signaling molecules and their receptors that may be established at the transcriptional level. Here, we address this hypothesis by comparing absolute expression levels of opioid peptides with their receptors, the largest neuropeptide family, and by characterizing coexpression (transcriptionally coordinated) patterns of these genes. We demonstrated that expression patterns of opioid genes highly correlate within and across functionally and anatomically different areas. Opioid peptide genes, compared with their receptor genes, are transcribed at much greater absolute levels, which suggests formation of a neuropeptide cloud that covers the receptor-expressed circuits. Surpri

SUBMITTER: Kononenko O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5388547 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature