Andrey E. Ryabinin
Associate Professor, Behavioral Neuroscience, OHSU
e-mail: ryabinin@ohsu.edu
Major Areas
Stress-related neuropeptides: urocortin, CRF, vasopressin
Previous Positions
Senior Research Associate, The Scripps Research Institute, LaJolla
Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla
Junior Research Fellow, Institute of Normal Physiology, Moscow, Russia
Education
M.D. (1985) 2nd Moscow Medical Institute, Russia
Ph.D. (1991) Institute of Normal Physiology, Moscow, Russia
Research Interests
Stress can profoundly change many aspects of human behavior and physiology. This change is thought to be mediated by the neuropeptides corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and vasopressin. However, recently it became clear that the family of stress-related peptides is much more complex, and includes other members, such as urocortin, urocortin 2 and urocortin 3. My laboratory applies a combination of molecular, genetic and neuroanatomical techniques to understand the behavioral role of the stress-related peptides. In particular, we show that these peptides could have a critical role in the development of alcoholism. For example, our studies mapping expression of inducible transcription factors c-Fos, FosB and Zif268 in rodent brain identified that alcohol self-administration leads to selective changes of neural activity in the urocortin-positive cells of the Edinger-Westphal nucleus. Our further studies showed that these cells are not only extremely sensitive to alcohol but are involved in regulation of alcohol consumption and alcohol-induced hypothermia. Thus, using several inbred and selectively bred strains of mice and rats we found that alcohol-preferring strains of rodents have significantly higher measures of urocortin in the Edinger-Westphal nucleus and its projection areas than alcohol-avoiding strains. Furthermore, we showed that electrolytic lesions of urocortin-positive neurons completely eliminate alcohol preference in alcohol-preferring mice and attenuate alcohol-induced hypothermia. Some of the current projects in our laboratory include:
- Analysis of urocortin expression in human brain.
- Effects of site-specific intracranial injections of stress-related peptides on alcohol-sensitive behaviors in mice.
- Effects of lesions of the Edinger-Westphal nucleus on consumatory and stress-related behaviors.
- Genetic analysis of the role of CRF/urocortin system in aggression and other social behaviors.
- Role of the CRF/urocortin system in excessive alcohol intake in rodents.
- Alcohol-related behaviors in vasopressin receptor knockout mice.
- Analysis of genetic polymorphisms of the CRF/urocortin system in humans and animals.
Selected Recent Publications
Weitemier AZ, Ryabinin AE (2005) Lesions of the Edinger-Westphal nucleus after food and water consumption. Behavioral Neuroscience. 119:1235-1243.
Weitemier AZ, Ryabinin AE (2005) Brain region-specific regulation of urocortin 1 innervation and corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor type 2 binding by ethanol exposure. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 29:1610-1620.
Turek VF, Tsivkovskaia NO, Hyytia P, Harding S, Le A-D, Ryabinin AE (2005) Urocortin 1 expression in five pairs of rat lines selectively bred for differences in alcohol drinking. Psychopharmacology. 181:511-517.
Sharpe AL, Tsivkovskaia NO, Ryabinin AE (2005) Ataxia and c-Fos expression in mice drinking ethanol in limited access session. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 29:1419-1426.
Ryabinin AE, Tsivkovskaia NO, Ryabinin SA (2005) Urocortin 1-containing neurons in the human Edinger-Westphal nucleus. Neuroscience. 134:1317-1323.
Turek VF, Ryabinin AE (2005) Ethanol vs. Lipopolysaccharide-induced hypothermia: Involvement of urocortin. Neuroscience. 133:1021-1028.
Weitemier AZ, Tsivkovskaia NO, Ryabinin AE (2005) Urocortin 1 distribution in mouse brain is strain-dependent. Neuroscience. 132:729-740.
Bachtell RK, Weitemier AZ, Ryabinin AE (2004) Lesions of the Edinger-Westphal nucleus in C57BL/6J mice disrupt ethanol-induced hypothermia and ethanol consumption. European Journal of Neuroscience. 20:1613-1623.
Weitemier AZ, Ryabinin AE (2004) Subregion-specific differences in hippocampal activity between Delay and Trace fear conditioning: An immunohistochemical analysis. Brain Research. 995:55-65.
Bachtell RK, Weitemier AZ, Galvan-Rosas A, Tsivkovskaia NO, Risinger FO, Grahame NO, Phillips TJ, Ryabinin AE (2003) The Edinger-Westphal nucleus-lateral septum pathway and its relationship to alcohol consumption. Journal of Neuroscience. 23:2477-2487.