Papers of the Week

We examined calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)’s effects on behavioral surrogates for motion-induced nausea and static imbalance in the nestinRCP (-/-), a novel mouse model that loses expression of receptor component protein (RCP) in the nervous system after tamoxifen induction. The assays used were the motion-induced thermoregulation and center of pressure (CoP) assays. Findings suggest CGRP’s affects behavioral measures in the nestinRCP (-/-) similarly to littermate controls, since CGRP was observed to increase female sway and diminishes tail vasodilations to provocative motion in both sexes. However, the CGRP-receptor antagonist olcegepant did not antagonize CGRP’s effects in the nestinRCP (-/-), whereas it was effective in littermate controls. Findings suggest RCP loss may change the sensitivity of the CGRP receptor and affect the efficacy of receptor antagonists.