AB3094 Sigma-AldrichAnti-Orexin-2 Receptor Antibody

The aim of the present study was to investigate by immunohistochemistry the presence and distribution of the orexin system in the stomach and gut of fallow deer. Abundant orexin A-positive cells were localized in the middle and basal portions of the mucosal glands of the cardial and fundic regions of the stomach. In the same gastric areas, orexin B-positive cells were also found, mainly localized in the basal portion of glands. In the intestinal tract, orexin-containing cells were occasionally found in the duodenal epithelium and in the rectal intestinal glands. Immunoreactivity for orexin receptors, type 1 and 2 (OX1R and OX2R), was not detected in the same stomach regions. OX1R-immunopositivity was observed in the enteric neuron ganglia localized in the submucosal and muscular intestinal layers, while OX2R-immunopositivity was found close in contact with the cytoplasmic membrane of epithelial cells in the small intestine.

The aim of the present work was to characterize the expression and cell type distribution of the orexinic system in the major swine salivary glands by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry techniques. Tissue samples of the mandibular (MSG), sub-lingual, and parotid glands were obtained from six pigs. Marked differences in the expression of the orexinergic system were observed among the salivary glands. Prepro-orexin (PPOX) mRNA abundance was approximately 15-fold higher (P<0.05) in MSG than in the others salivary glands. The expression level of OX1R mRNA did not differ among the salivary glands, while that for OX2R transcript was undetectable. The hypothalamus, used as positive control tissues, showed the highest expression level for each component of the orexinic system. Immunoreactivity (IR) for both orexins A and B (OXA and OXB), and cognate receptors (OX1R and OX2R) were identified only in the excretory striated ducts of the MSG while acinar cells were not immunoreactive. Both sub-lingual and parotid glands completely lacked IR for any component of the orexinergic system. In the MSG, parasympathetic neurons and axons of local salivary gland ganglia were IR to both OXA and OXB and also to their receptors.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence and distribution of cells containing orexin A (OXA), and orexin type 1 and 2 receptors (OX1R and OX2R, respectively) in the feline placenta by means of immunohistochemical technique. OXA was identified in several decidual and syncytiotrophoblastic cells present in the lamellar portion of the placenta. In the same placental structures, few decidual and syncytiotrophoblastic cells showed the presence of OX1R-like immunoreactivity. Characteristically, immunopositivity for OX2R, but not for OX1R, was evidenced in the cells of the glandular layer. The orexinic system was not expressed in the uterine structures that were not engaged by the chorion. Our results provide the first evidence of the presence of a placental orexinic system in a mammalian species. Orexin A and both OX1R and OX2R are unequally distributed within the cat placenta. Local OXA production and the presence of specific receptors, differentially expressed in the placental structures of the cat, suggest that the orexinic system may participate in placental growth and development as well as in the regulation of its steroidogenic capacity via endocrine, paracrine and/or autocrine mechanisms.

Hypothalamic orexin (hypocretin) neurons project to the key structures of the limbic system and orexin receptors, both orexin receptor type 1 (OXR1) and type 2 (OXR2), are expressed in most limbic regions. Emerging evidence suggests that orexin is among important neurotransmitters that regulate addictive properties of drugs of abuse. In this study, we examined the effect of psychostimulant cocaine on orexin receptor protein abundance in the rat limbic system in vivo. Intermittent administration of cocaine (20 mg/kg, i.p., once daily for 5 days) caused a typical behavioral sensitization response to a challenge cocaine injection at a 14-day withdrawal period. Repeated cocaine administration at the same withdrawal time also increased OXR2 protein levels in the nucleus accumbens while repeated cocaine had no effect on OXR1 and orexin neuropeptide (both orexin-A and orexin-B) levels in this region. In contrast to the nucleus accumbens, OXR2 levels in the frontal cortex, the ventral tegmental area, the hippocampus, and the dorsal striatum (caudate putamen) were not altered by cocaine. Remarkably, the up-regulated OXR2 levels in the nucleus accumbens showed a long-lasting nature as it persisted up to 60 days after the discontinuation of repeated cocaine treatments. In contrast to chronic cocaine administration, an acute cocaine injection was insufficient to modify levels of any orexin receptor and peptide. Our data identify the up-regulation of OXR2 in the nucleus accumbens as an enduring molecular event that is correlated well with behavioral plasticity in response to chronic psychostimulant administration. This OXR2 up-regulation may reflect a key adaptation of limbic orexinergic transmission to chronic drug exposure and may thus be critical for the expression of motor plasticity.

Maternal deprivation (MD) is a neonatal stressor that leads to behavioral and molecular manifestations of chronic stress in adulthood. Recent evidence has suggested that stress may impact wake regulation through corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and the orexinergic system. We studied the wake/sleep features and brain levels of orexin and orexin receptors in adult rats neonatally subjected to either ten days of MD or a control procedure from postnatal day 4. At 3 months of age, one set of rats from both groups underwent 48 h of polysomnographic recording. All rats (including those that did not undergo surgery) were subsequently sacrificed for ELISA, radioimmunoassay and western blot measurement of orexins, orexin receptors and CRH in multiple brain regions. Neonatal MD induced an increase of total wake time (decreased total sleep) during the light period, which corresponds to human night time. This increase was specifically composed of quiet wake, while a small but significant decrease of active wake was observed during the dark period. At the molecular level, MD led to increased hypothalamic CRH and orexin A, and frontal cortical orexin 1 receptors (OX1R). However, hippocampal orexin B was reduced in the MD group. Our study discovered for the first time that the adult MD rat has sleep and neurobiological features of hyperarousal, which is typical in human insomnia. We concluded that neonatal MD produces adult hyperarousal in sleep physiology and neurobiology, and that the adult MD rat could be a model of insomnia with an orexinergic mechanism.