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Baseline expression of alpha4beta2* nicotinic acetylcholine receptors predicts motivation to self-administer nicotine.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Marked interindividual differences in vulnerability to nicotine dependence exist, but factors underlying such differences are not well understood. The midbrain alpha4beta2* subtype of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) has been implicated in mediation of the reinforcing effects of nicotine responsible for dependence. However, no study has been performed evaluating the impact of interindividual differences in midbrain nAChR levels on motivation to self-administer nicotine. METHODS:Baseline levels of alpha4beta2* nAChRs were measured using 2-[(18)F]fluoro-A-85380 (2-FA) and positron emission tomography (PET) in five squirrel monkeys. Motivation to self-administer nicotine (number of lever presses) was subsequently measured using a progressive-ratio (PR) schedule of reinforcement. RESULTS:Greater motivation to self-administer nicotine was associated with lower levels of midbrain nAChRs. CONCLUSIONS:The results suggest that level of expression of nAChRs is a contributing factor in the development of nicotine dependence. Similarly, it has been previously shown that low levels of dopamine D(2) receptors (DRD2) are associated with a higher preference for psychostimulant use in humans and nonhuman primates. Together, results from these PET studies of dopaminergic and nicotinic cholinergic transmission suggest that an inverse relationship between the availability of receptors that mediate reinforcement and the motivation to take drugs exists across different neurotransmitter systems.

SUBMITTER: Le Foll B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2687082 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Baseline expression of alpha4beta2* nicotinic acetylcholine receptors predicts motivation to self-administer nicotine.

Le Foll Bernard B Chefer Svetlana I SI Kimes Alane S AS Shumway Dean D Stein Elliot A EA Mukhin Alexey G AG Goldberg Steven R SR

Biological psychiatry 20081218 8

<h4>Background</h4>Marked interindividual differences in vulnerability to nicotine dependence exist, but factors underlying such differences are not well understood. The midbrain alpha4beta2* subtype of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) has been implicated in mediation of the reinforcing effects of nicotine responsible for dependence. However, no study has been performed evaluating the impact of interindividual differences in midbrain nAChR levels on motivation to self-administer nicoti ...[more]

PMID: 19095220

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Project description:The neuronal alpha4beta2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) is one of the most widely expressed nAChR subtypes in the brain. Its subunits have high sequence identity (54 and 46% for alpha4 and beta2, respectively) with alpha and beta subunits in Torpedo nAChR. Using the known structure of the Torpedo nAChR as a template, the closed-channel structure of the alpha4beta2 nAChR was constructed through homology modeling. Normal-mode analysis was performed on this closed structure and the resulting lowest frequency mode was applied to it for a "twist-to-open" motion, which increased the minimum pore radius from 2.7 to 3.4 A and generated an open-channel model. Nicotine could bind to the predicted agonist binding sites in the open-channel model but not in the closed one. Both models were subsequently equilibrated in a ternary lipid mixture via extensive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Over the course of 11 ns MD simulations, the open channel remained open with filled water, but the closed channel showed a much lower water density at its hydrophobic gate comprised of residues alpha4-V259 and alpha4-L263 and their homologous residues in the beta2 subunits. Brownian dynamics simulations of Na+ permeation through the open channel demonstrated a current-voltage relationship that was consistent with experimental data on the conducting state of alpha4beta2 nAChR. Besides establishment of the well-equilibrated closed- and open-channel alpha4beta2 structural models, the MD simulations on these models provided valuable insights into critical factors that potentially modulate channel gating. Rotation and tilting of TM2 helices led to changes in orientations of pore-lining residue side chains. Without concerted movement, the reorientation of one or two hydrophobic side chains could be enough for channel opening. The closed- and open-channel structures exhibited distinct patterns of electrostatic interactions at the interface of extracellular and transmembrane domains that might regulate the signal propagation of agonist binding to channel opening. A potential prominent role of the beta2 subunit in channel gating was also elucidated in the study.

Project description:A variety of molecular modeling, molecular docking, and first-principles electronic structure calculations were performed to study how the alpha4beta2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) binds with different species of two typical agonists, (S)-(-)-nicotine and (R)-(-)-deschloroepibatidine, each of which is distinguished by different free bases and protonation states. On the basis of these results, predictions were made regarding the corresponding microscopic binding free energies. Hydrogen-bonding and cation-pi interactions between the receptor and the respective ligands were found to be the dominant factors differentiating the binding strengths of different microscopic binding species. The calculated results and analyses demonstrate that, for each agonist, all the species are interchangeable and can quickly achieve a thermodynamic equilibrium in solution and at the nAChR binding site. This allows quantitation of the equilibrium concentration distributions of the free ligand species and the corresponding microscopic ligand-receptor binding species, their pH dependence, and their contributions to the phenomenological binding affinity. The predicted equilibrium concentration distributions, pK(a) values, absolute phenomenological binding affinities, and their pH dependence are all in good agreement with available experimental data, suggesting that the computational strategy from the microscopic binding species and affinities to the phenomenological binding affinity is reliable for studying alpha4beta2 nAChR-ligand binding. This should provide valuable information for future rational design of drugs targeting nAChRs. The general strategy of the "from-microscopic-to-phenomenological" approach for studying interactions of alpha4beta2 nAChRs with (S)-(-)-nicotine and (R)-(-)-deschloroepibatidine may also be useful in studying other types of ligand-protein interactions involving multiple molecular species of a ligand and in associated rational drug design.

Dataset Information

Baseline expression of alpha4beta2* nicotinic acetylcholine receptors predicts motivation to self-administer nicotine.

Publications

Baseline expression of alpha4beta2* nicotinic acetylcholine receptors predicts motivation to self-administer nicotine.

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