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. 2011 Nov 22;108(47):18872-4.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1116714108. Epub 2011 Nov 21.

Paul Greengard: Signals underlying moods, addictions, and brain disorders

Sandeep Ravindran

Paul Greengard: Signals underlying moods, addictions, and brain disorders

Sandeep Ravindran. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .
No abstract available

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Dopamine release and binding to receptor. Dopamine is released by a neuron into the junction between two nerve cells called the synapse. There, it can bind to dopamine receptors on neighboring neurons, and the receptors activate the second messenger and downstream signaling pathways.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Dopamine receptor availability in the brain. Brain images show a decrease in the available dopamine receptors in the brain of a person addicted to cocaine compared with a nondrug user. A similar decrease is seen with many other addictive substances, including alcohol and heroin. The lower level of receptors is thought to occur because of their repeated overstimulation, and it can lead to a reduced activation of natural reward pathways that contributes to the tendency to abuse these addictive substances. Adapted from Volkow et al. (9).
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Dopamine signals through a cAMP second messenger. After dopamine binds to its receptor, the receptor then triggers the activation of an adenylate cyclase enzyme, which produces cAMP ATP. cAMP acts as a second messenger that transmits a signal from the receptor to other proteins within the cell by binding to them and altering their activity. After dopamine increases the level of cAMP in nerve cells, the cAMP activates a kinase that adds phosphate groups to other proteins in the cell in a process known as phosphorylation. Phosphorylation of these other proteins triggers downstream signaling pathways.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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