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Neuronal Responses to Hypocretin/Orexin

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Book cover The Orexin/Hypocretin System

Part of the book series: Contemporary Clinical Neuroscience ((CCNE))

Abstract

The peptides hypocretin-1 and -2 (also called orexin-A and-B) were first described in 1998 in two independent papers by de Lecea et al. (1) and Sakurai et al. (2). These two peptides are synthesized from the same prepropeptide, and therefore both peptides are found in the same cells and are probably released simultaneously from axon terminals. The neurons that synthesize the hypocretins are found selectively in the lateral hypothalamus perifornical area, and axons from these cells project widely throughout the brain (3) and spinal cord (4). Two receptors have been identified (2). These appear to be Gq protein coupled. The hypocretin receptor 1 (orexin receptor 1) has a greater affinity for hypocretin-1, whereas the hypocretin receptor 2 (orexin receptor 2) is activated similarly by both hypocretin-1 and -2 (2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT

    Anthony N. van den Pol PhD & Claudio Acuna-Goycolea PhD

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  1. Anthony N. van den Pol PhD
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  2. Claudio Acuna-Goycolea PhD
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Narcolepsy, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA

    Seiji Nishino MD, PhD

  2. Department of Pharmacology Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Takeshi Sakurai MD, PhD

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© 2006 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ

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van den Pol, A.N., Acuna-Goycolea, C. (2006). Neuronal Responses to Hypocretin/Orexin. In: Nishino, S., Sakurai, T. (eds) The Orexin/Hypocretin System. Contemporary Clinical Neuroscience. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-950-8:45

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