Chapter category:
Opioids in Planaria
Planaria: A Model for Drug Action
and Abuse
Edited by: Robert B. Raffa and Scott M. RawlsISBN: TBA
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Chapter authors:
Antonio Carolei, Marco Colasanti and Giorgio Venturini
Planaria, considered the ancestor of all bilateria, including vertebrates, represents the most primitive example of centralization and cephalization of the nervous system. A large body of research performed in the last decades suggest a strong conservation of the basic neurochemical mechanisms during evolution. In particular, the flatworm nervous system employs a wide repertoire of neuroactive molecules, including the classical neurotransmitters and several peptides. The presence of opioid peptides and of the related binding sites, functionally similar to the κ subtype of mammals is well supported in planaria, both on the basis of immunochemical evidence and of pharmacological approaches. A functional interaction between the opioid and dopaminergic system is operating in planaria, with an enkephalinergic modulation of dopamine release. Abstinence‑induced withdrawal phenomena have been described in planaria and the neurotransmitter system similar to the mammalian one, suggests that this flatworm may be particularly suitable as a model for dependence studies.
Antonio Carolei
Marco Colasanti
Giorgio Venturini
Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Roma Tre, Viale Marconi, Roma, Italy
Additional chapters from this book:
Drug Combinations and Isoboles
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This chapter discusses the quantitative pharmacology of drug combinations for drugs that produce overtly similar effects; more specifically we consider whether a combination of two agonists, or a comb...
The Planarian Regeneration Model as a Context for the Study of Drug Effects and Mechanisms
Néstor J. Oviedo and Michael Levin
A complete understanding of drug effects and the mechanisms of addiction include a molecular characterization of changes in neurotransmitter and ion channel pathways and their consequences for remodel...
Opioids in Planaria
Antonio Carolei, Marco Colasanti and Giorgio Venturini
Planaria, considered the ancestor of all bilateria, including vertebrates, represents the most primitive example of centralization and cephalization of the nervous system. A large body of research per...
Catecholamines in Planaria
Antonio Carolei, Irene Ciancarelli and Giorgio Venturini
Planaria are free‑living flatworms and represent the most primitive example of centralization and cephalization of the nervous system along phylogeny. Several neurotransmitters such as dopamine,...
Analysis of Behavior in the Planarian Model
Cindy L. Nicolas, Charles I. Abramson and Michael Levin
Planaria species are powerful models for the study of drug effects and addiction on neural and cognitive function due to their tractability to cell‑biological, pharmacological and molecular̴...
Nitric Oxide in Lower Invertebrates
Marco Colasanti and Giorgio Venturini
Nitric oxide (NO) is considered an important signaling molecule involved in many different physiological processes, including nervous transmission, vascular regulation, immune defense and in the patho...
Planaria as Model in Drug Abuse Research
Robert B. Raffa
In some complex way, drug abuse is a physiological process that involves the modulation or alteration of one or more neurochemical pathways. These pathways are reviewed in this chapter to the extent t...
Physical Dependence and Withdrawal in Planarians
Robert B. Raffa
A quantifiable feature of drug abuse in animal models is the development of physical dependence and its expression during withdrawal (either abstinence‑ or antagonist‑induced). Withdrawal ...
Planaria: Short Introduction
Robert B. Raffa
Planarians are free‑living, nonparasitic, bilaterally symmetrical flatworms (dorsoventrally flattened). They range in size from about 3 to about 15 mm and are found throughout the world. There a...
Gene Expression in the Brain and Central Nervous System in Planarians
Katsuhiko Mineta, Kazuho Ikeo and Takashi Gojobori
In planarians, the CNS forms an inverted U‑shape consisting of a cephalic ganglion and several branches. Recent advances in molecular studies using expressed sequence tags (EST) and cDNA microar...
Brain and Neural Networks
Kaneyasu Nishimura, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Yoshihisa Kitamura and Kiyokazu Agata
Freshwater planarians have a relatively well‑organized central nervous system (CNS), which consists of the brain and the ventral nerve cords (VNCs). Recently, several neural marker genes have be...
