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Chronic alcohol drinking modulates synchrony between midbrain gene transcription and long-lasting changes in dopamine terminal and opioid function in macaques

ABSTRACT: Alcohol use disorder is marked by disrupted behavioral and emotional states which can persist into abstinence. The enduring synaptic alterations that remain despite the absence of alcohol are of interest for interventions to prevent relapse. 28 male rhesus macaques underwent over 20 months of alcohol drinking interspersed with three 30-day forced abstinence periods. After the last abstinence period, we paired ex vivo voltammetry in nucleus accumbens slices with RNA-sequencing of the ventral tegmental area. We found persistent augmentation of dopamine transporter function, kappa opioid receptor sensitivity, and dynorphin release – all inhibitory regulators which act to decrease extracellular dopamine. Surprisingly, though transcript expression was not altered, the relationship between gene expression and functional readouts of these encoded proteins was highly dynamic and altered by drinking history. Therefore, the long-lasting synaptic impact of alcohol use suggests that assessment of transcript-function relationships may provide avenues for precision therapeutics targeted to specific synaptic pathophysiologies.

ORGANISM(S): Macaca mulatta

PROVIDER: GSE244557 | GEO | 2024/04/16

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Here, we identify persistent and substantial variation in ethanol drinking behavior within an inbred mouse strain and utilize this model to identify gene networks influencing such non-genetic variation in ethanol intake. C57BL/6NCrl mice showed persistent inter-individual variation of ethanol intake in a two-bottle choice paradigm over a three week period, ranging from less than 1 g/kg to over 14 g/kg ethanol in an 18h interval. Whole genome microarray expression analysis in nucleus accumbens, prefrontal cortex and ventral tegmental area of individual animals identified gene expression patterns correlated with ethanol intake. Results included several gene networks previously implicated in ethanol behaviors, such as glutamate signaling, BDNF and genes involved in synaptic vesicle function. Additionally, genes functioning in epigenetic chromatin or DNA modifications such as acetylation and/or methylation also had expression patterns correlated with ethanol intake. Our results thus implicate specific brain regional gene networks, including chromatin modification factors, as potentially important mechanisms underlying individual variation in ethanol intake. Voluntary two-bottle choice drinking was performed as described previously (Khisti et al. 2006). Briefly, two bottles containing 10%(w/v) ethanol (Aaper Alcohol and Chemical Co. Shelbyville, KY) or tap water were placed into the home cage at the beginning of the dark cycle. Tube position was varied every two days (L, L, R, R). Drinking sessions lasted 18 hours/day followed by 6 hours access to water only. Mice had four consecutive drinking sessions followed by four days of abstinence repeated four times to give 16 total drinking sessions. Three brain regions were harvested 6 days after the last drinking session: prefrontal cortex (PFC), nucleus accumbens (NAc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) as previously described (Kerns et al. 2005). Labeled cRNA from individual animals (n=19) was hybridized to a single microarray for each brain region (n=58 total microarrays).

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Chronic alcohol drinking modulates synchrony between midbrain gene transcription and long-lasting changes in dopamine terminal and opioid function in macaques

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