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Preliminary data
indicate that tumor necrosis factor alpha increases the evoked
potentials while interleukin-1beta decreases these same responses.
Further analyses are necessary to evaluate the mechanisms that
underlie these alterations.
Another route for investigating
sleep function is to identify the immunochemical composition
of neurons that respond to neuronal activation. Whisker
stimulation increases the activation the number of tumor
necrosis factor-immunoreactive cells. Preliminary data
suggest that the number of immunoreactive cells with growth
hormone releasing hormone receptor is also increased in the
somatosensory cortex activated by whisker stimulation.
Recent preliminary data indicates that intraperitoneal
administration of a sleep-inducing dose of interleukin-1
beta increases the activation of nuclear factor kappa B as
well as the mRNA levels for the cytokine, tumor necrosis
factor, within specific regions of the nucleus tractus
solitarius, the brain region that receives vagal afferents
from the gut. Also, an immunochemical marker for GABAergic
neurons has been localized in hypothalamic neurons that
alter their calcium signals in response to cytokines and the
growth hormone-releasing hormone. These findings in
collaboration with James Krueger, Alok De and Steve Simasko
are the first demonstration of colocalization of receptors
for sleep-promoting factors
in GABAergic, hypothalamic neurons.
Biographical Information
Lynn Churchill, Research
Associate Professor, completed her B.S. in biophysical science at the
University of Houston in 1969 and her Ph.D. in psychobiology at the University
of California, Irvine, in 1973. She was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at the
Medical Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, from 1973-1977, a
research scientist at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in
Houston, and a research assistant professor at the University of Kansas
Medical Center, Kansas City. She joined VCAPP in 1987.
Selected Recent Publications
Peterfi, Z., L. Churchill, I.
Hajdu, F. Obal Jr., J.M. Krueger, A. Parducz. 2004. Fos-Immunoreactivity in
the Hypothalamus: Dependency on the diurnal Rhythm, Sleep, Gender, and
Estrogen. Neuroscience 124(3):695-707.
Nelson, S.E., D.L. Duricka, K. Campbell, L.
Churchill, J.M. Krueger. 2004. Homer1a and 1bc levels in the rat
somatosensory cortex vary with the time of day and sleep loss. Neurosci
Lett. 367(1):105-108.
Brandt, J.A., L. Churchill, A. Rehman, G.
Ellis, Sylvie Mémet, Alain Israël, and J.M. Krueger. Sleep deprivation
increases the activation of Nuclear Factor kappa B in lateral hypothalamic
cells. Brain Research, 1004(1-2):91-97.
De, A., L. Churchill,
F. Obál, Jr., S.M. Simasko, and J.M. Krueger. 2002. GHRH and IL1b
increase cytoplasmic Ca2+ levels in
cultured hypothalamic GABAergic neurons. Brain Res. 949: 209-212.
Cearley, C., L. Churchill, and J.M.
Krueger. 2003. Time of day differences in IL-1β
and TNFα mRNA levels in specific regions of the rat brain. Neurosci.
Lett 352: 61-63.
Brandt, J.A., L. Churchill, A. Rehman, G.
Ellis, S. Memet, A. Israel, and J.M. Krueger. 2004. Sleep deprivation
increases the activation of Nuclear Factor kappa B in lateral hypothalamic
cells. Brain Res. 1004: 91-97.
Peterfi, Z., L. Churchill, I. Hajdu, F.
Obal Jr., J.M. Krueger, and A. Parducz. 2004. Fos-immunoreactivity in the
hypothalamus: dependency on the diurnal rhythm, sleep, gender and estrogen.
Neuroscience 124(3): 695-707.
Nelson, S.E., D.L. Duricka, K. Campbell, L.
Churchill, and J.M. Krueger. 2004. Home 1a and 1bc levels in the rat
somatosensory cortex vary with the time of day and sleep loss, Neurosci.
Lett. 367: 105-108.
Churchill, L., K. Yasuda, T. Yasuda, K.
Blindheim, M. Falter, F. Garcia-Garcia, and J.M. Krueger. 2005. Unilateral
cortical application of tumor necrosis factor alpha induces asymmetry in Fos-and
Interleukin 1beta-immunoreactive cells within the corticothalamic
projection. Brain Res. 1055:15-24.
Churchill, L.,
Taishi, P., M. Wang, J.
Brandt, C. Cearley, A. Rehman, and J.M. Krueger. 2006. Brain distribution of
cytokine mRNA induced by systemic administration of interleukin-1beta or
tumor necrosis factor alpha. Brain Res. 1120:64-73.
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