The world's first wiki where authorship really matters (Nature Genetics, 2008). Due credit and reputation for authors. Imagine a global collaborative knowledge base for original thoughts. Search thousands of articles and collaborate with scientists around the globe.

wikigene or wiki gene protein drug chemical gene disease author authorship tracking collaborative publishing evolutionary knowledge reputation system wiki2.0 global collaboration genes proteins drugs chemicals diseases compound
Hoffmann, R. A wiki for the life sciences where authorship matters. Nature Genetics (2008)
 

Links

 

Gene Review

HCRT  -  hypocretin (orexin) neuropeptide precursor

Canis lupus familiaris

 
 
Welcome! If you are familiar with the subject of this article, you can contribute to this open access knowledge base by deleting incorrect information, restructuring or completely rewriting any text. Read more.
 

Disease relevance of HCRT

 

Psychiatry related information on HCRT

  • Cataplexy, an emotion-triggered sudden loss of muscle tone specific to narcolepsy, is tightly associated with hypocretin deficiency [2].
  • Hypocretin release in normal and narcoleptic dogs after food and sleep deprivation, eating, and movement [3].
  • The strong correlation between motor activity and Hcrt-1 release may explain some of the previously reported behavioral, physiological, and pathological phenomena ascribed to the Hcrt system [3].
  • Because hypocretin may normally participate in the maintenance of wakefulness, the loss of neurons that release this peptide might allow REM sleep to occur at inappropriate times, ie, while the patient is awake, in contrast to its normal cyclic appearance after a period of slow-wave sleep [1].
 

High impact information on HCRT

  • Preprohypocretin (Hcrt) knockout mice have symptoms similar to human and canine narcolepsy [4].
  • We find that by 4 days after birth, Hcrtr2 mutants have significantly higher levels of Hcrt than normal age- and breed-matched dogs [5].
  • The large size of the dog cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cerebellomedullary cistern allows the withdrawal of sufficient volumes of CSF for accurate assay of hypocretin levels, as early as postnatal day 4 [5].
  • Using hypocretin receptor 2 gene (hcrtr 2)-mutated narcoleptic Dobermans, we have previously demonstrated that altered dopamine (DA) D(2/3) receptor mechanisms in mesencephalic DA nuclei are important for the induction of cataplexy [2].
  • One hypothesis concerning the pathophysiology of narcolepsy proposes that the HLA subtype resulting from the mutation on chromosome 6 increases the susceptibility of hypocretin-containing brain neurons to immune attack [1].

References

  1. Narcolepsy and the hypocretins. Wurtman, R.J. Metab. Clin. Exp. (2006) [Pubmed]
  2. The roles of midbrain and diencephalic dopamine cell groups in the regulation of cataplexy in narcoleptic Dobermans. Okura, M., Fujiki, N., Kita, I., Honda, K., Yoshida, Y., Mignot, E., Nishino, S. Neurobiol. Dis. (2004) [Pubmed]
  3. Hypocretin release in normal and narcoleptic dogs after food and sleep deprivation, eating, and movement. Wu, M.F., John, J., Maidment, N., Lam, H.A., Siegel, J.M. Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol. (2002) [Pubmed]
  4. Identification and functional analysis of mutations in the hypocretin (orexin) genes of narcoleptic canines. Hungs, M., Fan, J., Lin, L., Lin, X., Maki, R.A., Mignot, E. Genome Res. (2001) [Pubmed]
  5. Developmental changes in CSF hypocretin-1 (orexin-A) levels in normal and genetically narcoleptic Doberman pinschers. John, J., Wu, M.F., Maidment, N.T., Lam, H.A., Boehmer, L.N., Patton, M., Siegel, J.M. J. Physiol. (Lond.) (2004) [Pubmed]
 
WikiGenes - Universities