The Neuroscientist

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Meis, S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Meis, S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
The Neuroscientist, Vol. 9, No. 2, 158-168 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/1073858403252231
© 2003 SAGE Publications

Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ: Actions within the Brain

Susanne Meis

Institut für Physiologie, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität, D-39120 Magdeburg, Germany

A peptide termed nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) was recently identified as an endogenous agonist for the opioid receptor-like receptor currently specified as NOP receptor. Despite many structural homologies to the opioid system, the NOP receptor shows low-affinity binding to selective opioid agonists or antagonists. Vice versa, N/OFQ selectively activates the NOP receptor but not any opioid receptor subtype. This novel receptor/ligand system is widely expressed in the brain. At the cellular level, the actions of N/OFQ resemble those elicited by opioid peptides. The NOP receptor is coupled to G-proteins, whose activation results in inhibition of adenylate cyclase, modulation of calcium and potassium conductances, and regulation of transmitter systems. At the behavioral level, systemic application of N/OFQ elicits a unique range of responses, including a wide range of effects on pain processing such as hyperalgesia, analgesia, and allodynia, as well as anxiolytic actions, modulation of opioid-mediated processes, and influences on learning and memory. NEUROSCIENTIST 9(2): 158–168, 2003.

Key Words: Nociceptin • Orphanin FQ • Neuropeptide • ORL1 receptor • NOP receptor


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Neurosci.Home page
C. Goeldner, D. Reiss, J. Wichmann, H. Meziane, B. L. Kieffer, and A.-M. Ouagazzal
Nociceptin Receptor Impairs Recognition Memory via Interaction with NMDA Receptor-Dependent Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase/Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase Signaling in the Hippocampus
J. Neurosci., February 27, 2008; 28(9): 2190 - 2198.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 EndocrinologyHome page
C. D. Foradori, M. Amstalden, L. M. Coolen, S. R. Singh, C. J. McManus, R. J. Handa, R. L. Goodman, and M. N. Lehman
Orphanin FQ: Evidence for a Role in the Control of the Reproductive Neuroendocrine System
Endocrinology, October 1, 2007; 148(10): 4993 - 5001.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
M. Roberto and G. R. Siggins
Nociceptin/orphanin FQ presynaptically decreases GABAergic transmission and blocks the ethanol-induced increase of GABA release in central amygdala
PNAS, June 20, 2006; 103(25): 9715 - 9720.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]