Project description:HIV and Methamphetamine study - Translational Methamphetamine AIDS Research Center - Dopamine-regulated inflammatory biomarkers A digital transcript panel was custom-made based on Hs_NeuroPath_v1 (Nanostring) to accommodate dopamine-regulated inflammatory genes that were previously identified in vitro, and hypothesized to cluster HIV+ Methamphetamine users.
Project description:Our goal was to examine whether the HIV Tat peptide, which is usually secreted from infected cells and has the potential to act in other cell types, alters gene expression in the Central Nervous System, and whether a drug abuse co-morbidity, in the case Methamphetamine, can play a role in further modifying gene expression. In order to address the effects of HIV Tat and Methamphetamine, alone and combined, we used an in vivo mouse model that has been described to mimic several aspects of neuroHIV, including changes in inflammatory markers, and decreased expression of dopamine receptors. These animals are transgenic mice, which upon treatment with with doxycycline for 10 days, express TAT protein under the control of the glial fibrilary associated protein (GFAP) promoter in the brain. They were treated with Meth and Saline for identification of gene expression changes that result from Tat or Methamphetamine alone, or from their interaction. There was an overall suppression of gene expression by Methamphetamine, in Tat- mice. The expression of Tat caused most Meth-induced changes to remain at control levels.
Project description:Individual variation in the addiction liability of amphetamines can be explained, in part, by heritable genetic factors. We recently identified Hnrnph1 (heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein H1) as a quantitative trait gene underlying variance in the locomotor stimulant response to methamphetamine in mice. The functional consequences of Hnrnph1 mutation on MA reward and reinforcement and the mechanisms by which Hnrnph1 alters methamphetamine sensitivity are unknown but could involve functional perturbations in dopamine neurotransmission. Here, we showed that mice with a heterozygous mutation in the first coding exon of Hnrnph1 (H1+/-) exhibited reduced methamphetamine reinforcement and intake and dose-dependent changes in methamphetamine reward as measured via conditioned place preference. Accordingly, H1+/- mice showed a robust decrease in methamphetamine-induced dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens with no change in baseline dopamine levels, dopamine transporter levels, or dopamine uptake. Surprisingly, immunohistochemical and immunoblot staining of midbrain dopaminergic neurons and their forebrain projections for tyrosine hydroxylase did not reveal any obvious changes in intensity or numbers of cells stained or in the number of forebrain TH-positive puncta. Finally, we observed a two-fold increase in hnRNP H protein in the striatal synaptosme of H1+/- mice; proteomic analysis identified an increased abundance of several mitochondrial complex I and V proteins. We conclude that H1+/- deficits in behavior are associated with blunted MA-induced dopamine release and an upregulation of synaptic mitochondrial proteins.
Project description:U1 monocytic cell line was cloned from U937 cells that survived an infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus HIV-1 and bear integration sites, serving as one of the most studied HIV latent models. Under the hypothesis that the hyperdopaminergic environment of the brain of substance users affects HIV-infected cells and latency, we tested the effects of Dopamine and two dopamine receptors that were identified as able to signal changes ininnate immune cells, DRD1 and DRD4.
Project description:Methamphetamine can trigger dopamine releasing in human brain, now used as abuse drug. Some studies have shown that specific genes and proteins responded to, methamphetamine, but little is known about the overall “omic” response of organisms to this illicit substance. Here we demonstrate that Drosophila melanogaster has the potential to give us significant insights into evolutionarily conserved responses to methamphetamine. We performed metabolome, proteome, and transciptome profiling with Drosophila treated with methamphetamine. The proteomic profiling revealed responses associated with known physiological problems that occur with methamphetamine usage in mammals. The metabolomic result showed that the metabolite trehalose was decreased significantly after methamphetamine exposure, suggesting an oxidative stress response to this drug. Many of the differential transcribed genes, including detoxification enzymes, had the potential transcription factor-binding motif YY1 associated with their upstream regulatory regions. YY1 is known to be responsive to amphetamines in mammals.
Project description:Methamphetamine can trigger dopamine releasing in human brain, now used as abuse drug. Some studies have shown that specific genes and proteins responded to, methamphetamine, but little is known about the overall omic response of organisms to this illicit substance. Here we demonstrate that Drosophila melanogaster has the potential to give us significant insights into evolutionarily conserved responses to methamphetamine. We performed metabolome, proteome, and transciptome profiling with Drosophila treated with methamphetamine. The proteomic profiling revealed responses associated with known physiological problems that occur with methamphetamine usage in mammals. The metabolomic result showed that the metabolite trehalose was decreased significantly after methamphetamine exposure, suggesting an oxidative stress response to this drug. Many of the differential transcribed genes, including detoxification enzymes, had the potential transcription factor-binding motif YY1 associated with their upstream regulatory regions. YY1 is known to be responsive to amphetamines in mammals. For each sample, 20 virgin male flies were used to extract the mRNA. Three replicates were produced for each treatments. Two treatments were produced (control VS 0.6% 24 h meth-fed).
Project description:We performed RNA sequencing to characterize the effects of methamphetamine on HIV-infected mature monocytes. In vitro cultured HIV-infected mature (CD14+ CD16+) monocytes were treated with and without methamphetamine for 6h. RNA was extracted, sequenced, and analyzed for differential gene expression.
Project description:To date, diagnosis of methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) is based primarily on the patient’s self-reports of drug-seeking behaviour and interviews with psychiatrists in the absence of objective biomarkers. As an effective clinical method for diagnosis of MUD is still not available, the development of potential biomarkers for more accurate diagnosis is imperative. Transcription profiling and discovery of biomarkers in the treatment and recovery periods of MUD patients can be used as scientific basis to provide a greater understanding of the disease and to facilitate decisions on whether to continue or not. In this study, RNA sequencing analysis was performed to profile transcripts from hair follicle cells of healthy controls and patients with MUD, and biomarkers were discovered at each transition states to be used to diagnose MUD. This study will present an important information to diagnose MUD using non-invasive biomarkers for human addicts and it will help to develop better pharmacological treatment of MUD in the future.
Project description:Methamphetamine (METH) is an illicit drug which is neurotoxic to the mammalian brain. Numerous studies have revealed significant decreases in dopamine and serotonin levels in the brains of animals exposed to moderate-to-large METH doses given within short intervals of time. In contrast, repeated injections of small nontoxic doses of the drug followed by a challenge with toxic METH doses afford significant protection against monoamine depletion. The present study was undertaken to test the possibility that repeated injections of the drug might be accompanied by transcriptional changes involved in rendering the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system refractory to METH toxicity. Our results confirm that METH preconditioning can provide significant protection against METH-induced striatal dopamine depletion. In addition, the presence and absence of METH preconditioning were associated with substantial differences in the identity of the genes whose expression was affected by a toxic METH challenge.
Project description:The clinical presentation, course and treatment of methamphetamine-associated psychosis (MAP) are similar to that observed in schizophrenia (SCZ) and subsequently MAP has been hypothesized as a pharmacological and environmental model of SCZ. However, several challenges currently exist in accurately diagnosing MAP at the molecular and neurocognitive level before the MAP model can contribute to the discovery of SCZ biomarkers. We directly assessed subcortical brain structural volumes and clinical parameters of MAP within the framework of an integrative genome-wide RNA-Seq blood transcriptome analysis of subjects diagnosed with MAP (N=10), METH-dependency without psychosis (MA) (N=10) and healthy controls (N=10). We used RNA-Sequencing gene expression to characterize molecular signatures associated to METH and MAP status compared to healthy control subjects. Peripheral blood luekocytes gene expression was subject to transcriptional analysis for 10 MAP subjects, 10 subjects with METH-dependency without psychotic symptomics and 10 healthy controls.