Project description:Methamphetamine abuse continues to be a worldwide problem, damaging the individual user as well as society. Only minimal information exists on molecular changes in the brain that result from methamphetamine administered in patterns typical of human abusers. In order to investigate such changes, we examined the effect of methamphetamine on the transcriptional profile in brains of monkeys. Gene expression profiling of the caudate and hippocampus identified protein disulfide isomerase family member A3 (PDIA3) to be significantly up-regulated in the animals treated with methamphetamine as compared to saline treated control monkeys. Treatment of primary rat neurons with methamphetamine revealed an up-regulation of PDIA3, showing a direct effect of methamphetamine on neurons to increase PDIA3. In vitro studies using a neuroblastoma cell line demonstrated that PDIA3 expression protects against methamphetamine-induced cell toxicity and methamphetamine-induced intracellular reactive oxygen species production, revealing a neuroprotective role for PDIA3. The current study implicates PDIA3 to be an important cellular neuroprotective mechanism against a toxic drug, and as a potential target for therapeutic investigations. To study the effects of chronic METH effects on the brain
Project description:In this study, we have created a mouse model of methamphetamine cardiomyopathy that reproduces the chronic, progressive dosing commonly encountered in addicted subjects. We gradually increased the quantity of methamphetamine given to C57Bl/6 mice from 5 to 40 mg/kg over five months. At the fifth month, heart weight was increased, echocardiograms showed a dilated cardiomyopathy and survival was lower in males, with less effect in females. Interestingly, these findings correspond to previous observations in human patients, suggesting greater male susceptibility to the effects of methamphetamine on the heart.Transcriptional analysis showed changes in genes dysregulated in previous methamphetamine neurological studies as well as many that likely play a role in cardiac response to this toxic stress. We expect that a deeper understanding of the molecular biology of methamphetamine exposure in the heart will provide insights into the mechanism of cardiomyopathy in addicts and potential routes to more effective treatment.
Project description:To identify molecular effects of chronic drug treatment, heroin and methamphetamine treated animals were compared with saline treated animals at multiple time-points using microarray technology. Gene expression profile was assessed 14 h after the last dose of 1, 3, 6 or 12 days drug treatment and after 13, 15, 18 or 24 days of withdrawal. Animals were injected intraperitoneally with saline (SAL) (Polfa, Lublin, Poland), heroin (synthesized from morphine in Institute of Pharmacology PAS, Krakow, Poland) or D-methamphetamine (Sigma-Aldrich, Poznan, Poland) twice a day for consecutive 12 days in increasing doses. The Methamphetamine last dose (8 mg/kg) was four times greater than the first dose (2 mg/kg). It was also the case for heroin (40 and 10 mg/kg respectively). Mice were sacrificed by decapitation after 1, 3, 6 or 12 days of treatment or after 13, 15, 18 or 24 days of withdrawal.
Project description:To identify molecular effects of chronic drug treatment, heroin and methamphetamine treated animals were compared with saline treated animals at multiple time-points using microarray technology. Gene expression profile was assessed 14 h after the last dose of 1, 3, 6 or 12 days drug treatment and after 13, 15, 18 or 24 days of withdrawal.
Project description:Methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) is a chronic, relapsing disease that is characterized by repeated drug use despite negative consequences for which there are currently no FDA approved cessation therapeutics. Repeated methamphetamine (METH) use induces long-term gene expression changes in brain regions associated with reward processing and drug-seeking behavior, and recent evidence suggests that methamphetamine-induced neuroinflammation may also shape behavioral and molecular responses to the drug. Microglia, the resident immune cells in the brain, are principal drivers of neuroinflammatory responses and contribute to the pathophysiology of substance use disorders. Here, we investigated transcriptional and morphological changes in striatal microglia in response to methamphetamine-taking and during methamphetamine abstinence, as well as their functional contribution to drug-taking behavior. We show that methamphetamine self-administration induces transcriptional changes related to protein folding, mRNA processing, immune signaling, and neurotransmission in striatal microglia. Importantly, many of these transcriptional changes persist through abstinence, a finding supported by morphological analysis. Functionally, we report that microglial ablation increases methamphetamine-taking, possibly involving neuroimmune and neurotransmitter regulation. In contrast, microglial depletion did not alter methamphetamine-seeking behavior following 21 days of abstinence, highlighting the complexity of drug-seeking behaviors. Taken together, these results suggest that methamphetamine induces both short and long-term changes in striatal microglia that contribute to altered drug-taking behavior and may be leveraged for preclinical development of methamphetamine cessation therapeutics.
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:Methamphetamine abuse continues to be a worldwide problem, damaging the individual user as well as society. Only minimal information exists on molecular changes in the brain that result from methamphetamine administered in patterns typical of human abusers. In order to investigate such changes, we examined the effect of methamphetamine on the transcriptional profile in brains of monkeys. Gene expression profiling of the caudate and hippocampus identified protein disulfide isomerase family member A3 (PDIA3) to be significantly up-regulated in the animals treated with methamphetamine as compared to saline treated control monkeys. Treatment of primary rat neurons with methamphetamine revealed an up-regulation of PDIA3, showing a direct effect of methamphetamine on neurons to increase PDIA3. In vitro studies using a neuroblastoma cell line demonstrated that PDIA3 expression protects against methamphetamine-induced cell toxicity and methamphetamine-induced intracellular reactive oxygen species production, revealing a neuroprotective role for PDIA3. The current study implicates PDIA3 to be an important cellular neuroprotective mechanism against a toxic drug, and as a potential target for therapeutic investigations.
Project description:To study the effects of fetal brain exposure to methamphetamine, embryonic stem cell-derived cerebral organoids were treated with methamphetamine and cell type-specific gene expression was analysed using scRNA-seq.