This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Trace amines, including tyramine, tryptamine, octopamine and beta-phenylethylamine are endogenous amine compounds structurally related to classical biogenic amines. The discovery of trace amine receptors brings a new opportunity to study functions and pharmacological mechanisms of trace amines. Our laboratory has cloned two trace amine receptor subtypes from rhesus monkey, rhTA1 and rhTA4, which have 96% structural similarity to human TA1 and TA4 but diverge from the rodent receptors. This high similarity suggests that rhesus monkeys are highly suitable for investigating trace amine receptor biology and pathology relevant to human disorders, such as schizophrenia, ADHD and addiction. To explore the distribution of trace amine receptor protein in brain, we employed Western blotting using commercially available antibodies (Affinity BioReagents) to detect rhTA1 and rhTA4 proteins in different brain regions of rhesus monkey. Results: rhTA1 and rhTA4 were expressed in the following brain regions: cerebral cortex, orbital frontal cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, thalamus, hippocampus, cerebellum, hypothalamus, amygdala, substantia nigra, globus pallidus, and ventral tegmental area. Discussion: The distribution of rhTA1 and rhTA4 parallels the reported distribution of trace amines, trace amine binding sites and trace amine receptor mRNA in mammalian brain. The close structural similarity between human and monkey, but not rodent trace amine receptors indicates that the monkey can serve as an appropriate model for investigating the physiological and pathological relevance of trace amine receptors.
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