Similar Datasets
Project description:Substance use disorder emerges in a small proportion of drug users and has the characteristics of a chronic relapsing pathology. The objective of our study was to demonstrate and characterize the variability in the expression of the reinforcing effects of cocaine in the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. An unbiased cocaine-CPP paradigm in Sprague-Dawley rats with an extinction period of 12 days and reinstatement was conducted. We developed a statistical model to distinguish rats that express or do not express cocaine-induced place preference. Two groups of rats were identified: rats that did express reinforcing effects (CPP expression (CPPE), score > 102 s) and rats that did not (no CPP expression (nCPPE), score between −85 and 59 s). These two groups did not show significant differences in a battery of behavioral tests. To identify differentially expressed genes in the CPPE and nCPPE groups, we performed a whole-transcriptome RNA-sequencing analysis in the nucleus accumbens (Nac) 24 h after the CPP test. Four immediate early genes (Fos, Egr2, Nr4a1 and Zbtb37) were differentially expressed in the Nac of CPPE rats after CPP memory retrieval. Variability in cocaine-induced place preference persisted in the CPPE and nCPPE groups after the extinction and reinstatement phases. Transcriptomic differences observed after reinstatement were distinct from those observed immediately after CPP memory retrieval. These new findings provide insights into the identification of mechanisms underlying interindividual variability in the response to cocaine's reinforcing effects.
2024-03-11 | GSE169665 | GEO
Project description:Substance use disorder emerges in a small proportion of drug users and has the characteristics of a chronic relapsing pathology. The objective of our study was to demonstrate and characterize the variability in the expression of the reinforcing effects of cocaine in the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. An unbiased cocaine-CPP paradigm in Sprague-Dawley rats with an extinction period of 12 days and reinstatement was conducted. We developed a statistical model to distinguish rats that express or do not express cocaine-induced place preference. Two groups of rats were identified: rats that did express reinforcing effects (CPP expression (CPPE), score > 102 s) and rats that did not (no CPP expression (nCPPE), score between −85 and 59 s). These two groups did not show significant differences in a battery of behavioral tests. To identify differentially expressed genes in the CPPE and nCPPE groups, we performed a whole-transcriptome RNA-sequencing analysis in the nucleus accumbens (Nac) 24 h after the CPP test. Four immediate early genes (Fos, Egr2, Nr4a1 and Zbtb37) were differentially expressed in the Nac of CPPE rats after CPP memory retrieval. Variability in cocaine-induced place preference persisted in the CPPE and nCPPE groups after the extinction and reinstatement phases. Transcriptomic differences observed after reinstatement were distinct from those observed immediately after CPP memory retrieval. These new findings provide insights into the identification of mechanisms underlying interindividual variability in the response to cocaine's reinforcing effects.
2024-03-11 | GSE169666 | GEO
Project description:This study explores how CPP regulates the expression circRNAs in the nucleus accumbens (NAc)
2020-06-27 | GSE153377 | GEO
Project description:The ability of nicotine to alter firing of dopamine neurons is the first step leading to nicotine reward, but activation of intracellular signaling pathways downstream of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors is likely to be critical for longer-term consequences of nicotine exposure, including conditioned reward. The transcription factor cyclic AMP-response element binding protein (CREB) is important for new gene transcription and in its phosphorylated form (pCREB) promotes long-term changes in synaptic strength. Previous studies have implicated nucleus accumbens (NAc) CREB activity in the modulation of cocaine and morphine reward, and have shown that nicotine conditioned place preference (CPP) is associated with NAc CREB activation. It is not clear whether CPP elicits phosphorylation of CREB or if elevations in pCREB support nicotine CPP. In the current study, we investigated levels of CREB and pCREB during Pavlovian conditioning with nicotine in a novel context in the absence of chamber choice. Nicotine context conditioning resulted in elevated pCREB levels in the NAc shell but not the NAc core of mice following placement in the nicotine-paired chamber in the absence of nicotine. To test if CREB activity in the NAc shell contributes to cue-induced responses that may precipitate nicotine-seeking, we used viral-mediated gene transfer of a dominant-negative CREB construct in the NAc shell of C57BL/6J mice and found that disruption of CREB activation before training blocked nicotine place preference across a range of doses. Taken together, these studies identify the NAc shell as a brain region where CREB activity is essential for nicotine CPP.
| S-EPMC2709692 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Drug-paired cues inducing memory retrieval by expressing drug-seeking behaviors present a major challenge to drug abstinence. How neural circuits coordinate for drug memory retrieval remains unclear. Here, we report that exposure of the training chamber where cocaine-conditioned place preference (CPP) was performed increased neuronal activity in the core of nucleus accumbens (AcbC), ventral CA1 (vCA1), and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), as shown by elevated pERK and c-Fos levels. Chemogenetic inhibition of neuronal activity in the vCA1 and AcbC, but not mPFC, reduced the time spent in the cocaine-paired compartment, suggesting that the vCA1 and AcbC are required for the retrieval of cocaine-CPP memory and are key nodes recruited for cocaine memory storage. Furthermore, chemogenetic inhibition of the AcbC-projecting vCA1 neurons, but not the AcbC-projecting mPFC neurons, decreased the expression of cocaine-CPP. Optogenetic inhibition of the vCA1-AcbC projection, but not the mPFC-AcbC projection, also reduced the preference for the cocaine-paired compartment. Taken together, the cue-induced natural recall of cocaine memory depends on vCA1-AcbC circuits. The connectivity from the vCA1 to the AcbC may store the information of the cue-cocaine reward association critically required for memory retrieval. These data thus provide insights into the neural circuit basis of retrieval of drug-related memory.
| S-EPMC7701212 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Comparison of gene expression in the nucleus accumbens of rats expressing or not the conditioned place preference to cocaine
| PRJNA717288 | ENA
Project description:Molecular basis of transition to addiction in vulnerable individuals is largely unknown. We hypothesized that human susceptibility genes can be identified on the basis of conserved molecular mechanisms in rodent brains. We used a short-term cocaine-dependent conditioned place preference (CPP) to identify genetic hallmarks of early steps of reward memory in basal ganglia including accumbens nucleus (NAc), globus pallidus (GP) and subthalamic nucleus (STN). Using genome-wide microarray analysis and CPP as a quantitative trait, we found that synaptic plasticity-related genes are deregulated in these three structures. A significant enrichment in bona fide transcripts involved in dendritic spine local translation was evidenced. mGluR5 is transcriptionally deregulated in Acc and GP of cocaine-treated animals. Grin3a that encodes a NMDA receptor subunit involved in Ca++ permeability is deregulated in NAc. Furthermore, Orexin/Hcrt transcript level is decreased in STN, a region known to be involved in discriminating addictive drugs and natural rewards. We also found that mGluR5 and Grin3a expression deregulation is sufficient to induce changes in synaptic plasticity-related genes. Altogether, these results suggest that a combined deregulation of mGluR5 and Grin3A pathway in NAc, mGluR5 in GP and orexin system in STN may generate an incentive memory contrasted between addictive drugs and natural rewards. Such pathways may include clusters of genes that are potential susceptibility genes for transition to addiction.
2015-05-10 | GSE28529 | GEO
Project description:Molecular basis of transition to addiction in vulnerable individuals is largely unknown. We hypothesized that human susceptibility genes can be identified on the basis of conserved molecular mechanisms in rodent brains. We used a short-term cocaine-dependent conditioned place preference (CPP) to identify genetic hallmarks of early steps of reward memory in basal ganglia including accumbens nucleus (NAc), globus pallidus (GP) and subthalamic nucleus (STN). Using genome-wide microarray analysis and CPP as a quantitative trait, we found that synaptic plasticity-related genes are deregulated in these three structures. A significant enrichment in bona fide transcripts involved in dendritic spine local translation was evidenced. mGluR5 is transcriptionally deregulated in Acc and GP of cocaine-treated animals. Grin3a that encodes a NMDA receptor subunit involved in Ca++ permeability is deregulated in NAc. Furthermore, Orexin/Hcrt transcript level is decreased in STN, a region known to be involved in discriminating addictive drugs and natural rewards. We also found that mGluR5 and Grin3a expression deregulation is sufficient to induce changes in synaptic plasticity-related genes. Altogether, these results suggest that a combined deregulation of mGluR5 and Grin3A pathway in NAc, mGluR5 in GP and orexin system in STN may generate an incentive memory contrasted between addictive drugs and natural rewards. Such pathways may include clusters of genes that are potential susceptibility genes for transition to addiction. Agilent Whole Mouse Genome oligomicroarrays (GEO accession no. GPL2872, Agilent Technologies, Palo Alto, CA) were used. They contain 60-mer DNA probes synthesized in situ in a 44k format. Of 44,290 spots, 2756 are controls. The remaining 41,534 spots represent 33,661 unique transcripts which correspond to 20,202 unique human genes. Five independent (five accumbens nuclei from mice treated with cocaine and having a low score of conditioned place preference compared to five accumbens nuclei from mice treated with saline solution) measurements were carried out for each group of biological conditions using exchanged dye-labeled RNA targets (i.e., Cy3 and Cy5 dyeswapping experiments).
2015-05-10 | E-GEOD-28529 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Caffeine is the world's most popular psychostimulant and is frequently used as an active adulterant in many illicit drugs including cocaine. Previous studies have shown that caffeine can potentiate the stimulant effects of cocaine and cocaine-induced drug seeking behavior. However, little is known about the effects of this drug combination on reward-related learning, a key process in the maintenance of addiction and vulnerability to relapse. The goal of the present study was thus to determine caffeine and cocaine combined effects on the Conditioned Place Preference (CPP) test and to determine potential differential mRNA expression in the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of immediate-early genes (IEGs) as well as dopamine and adenosine receptor subunits. Mice were treated with caffeine (5 mg/kg, CAF), cocaine (10 mg/kg, COC), or their combination (caffeine 5 mg/kg + cocaine 10 mg/kg, CAF-COC) and trained in the CPP test or treated with repeated injections inside the home cage. NAc and mPFC tissues were dissected immediately after the CPP test, after a single conditioning session or following psychostimulant injection in the home cage for mRNA expression analysis. CAF-COC induced a marked change of preference to the drug conditioned side of the CPP and a significant increase in locomotion compared to COC. Gene expression analysis after CPP test revealed specific up-regulation in the CAF-COC group of Drd1a, cFos, and FosB in the NAc, and cFos, Egr1, and Npas4 in the mPFC. Importantly, none of these changes were observed when animals received same treatments in their home cage. With a single conditioning session, we found similar effects in both CAF and CAF-COC groups: increased Drd1a and decreased cFos in the NAc, and increased expression of Drd1a and Drd2, in the mPFC. Interestingly, we found that cFos and Npas4 gene expression were increased only in the mPFC of the CAF-COC. Our study provides evidence that caffeine acting as an adulterant could potentiate reward-associated memories elicited by cocaine. This is associated with specific changes in IEGs expression that were observed almost exclusively in mice that received the combination of both psychostimulants in the context of CPP memory encoding and retrieval. Our results highlight the potential relevance of caffeine in the maintenance of cocaine addiction which might be mediated by modifying neural plasticity mechanisms that strengthen learning of the association between drug and environment.
| S-EPMC5651260 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Whether metabotropic glutamate 7 (mGluR7) -activation enhances or diminishes the reinforcing properties of psychostimulants remains unclear. We have previously shown that systemic mGluR7 activation reduced alcohol consumption and preference as well as locomotor-stimulating and rewarding properties of ethanol. In this study, we further examined the contribution of mGluR7 on the effect of ethanol within the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), a neural target for many drugs of abuse. Using short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-expressing lentiviral vectors (LV) to alter locally the activity of mGluR7 in male rats, we have shown that blocking mGluR7 expression increased ethanol consumption and preference in a two-bottle choice drinking paradigm with no effect either on saccharin or on quinine used for taste discrimination. In addition, mGluR7 knockdown increases preference for environments previously paired with low doses of ethanol in the conditioned place preference (CPP) test, as it shifted the dose-response curve for ethanol CPP to the left, indicating alterations in the rewarding effects of alcohol. More importantly, mGluR7 blockade in the dorsal striatum (DS) neither affected ethanol consumption nor ethanol-elicited CPP. These results show that levels of mGluR7 in the NAcc regulate responsiveness to alcohol. Taken together, these findings clearly demonstrate that mGluR7 signaling within the NAcc is a key modulator of functional responses to ethanol and offer an important target for regulating the addictive effects of alcohol.
| S-EPMC3773660 | biostudies-literature