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Chronic exposure to cocaine reduces the expression of a proteinknown to regulate brain plasticity, according to new, in vivoresearch on the molecular basis of cocaine addiction . That reduction drives structural changes in the brain, whichproduce greater sensitivity to the rewarding effects of cocaine. The finding suggests a potential new target for development of atreatment for cocaine addiction. It was published last month in Nature Neuroscience by researchers at the University at Buffalo and Mount Sinai Schoolof Medicine. "We found that chronic cocaine exposure in mice led to a decreasein this protein's signaling," says David Dietz, PhD, assistantprofessor of pharmacology and toxicology in the School of Medicineand Biomedical Sciences, who did the work while at Mt. Sinai. "Thereduction of the expression of the protein, called Rac1, then setin motion a cascade of events involved in structural plasticity ofthe brain - the shape and growth of neuronal processes in thebrain. Among the most important of these events is the largeincrease in the number of physical protrusions or spines that growout from the neurons in the reward center of the brain. "This suggests that Rac1 may control how exposure to drugs ofabuse, like cocaine, may rewire the brain in a way that makes anindividual more susceptible to the addicted state," says Dietz. The presence of the spines demonstrates the spike in the rewardeffect that the individual obtains from exposure to cocaine. Bychanging the level of expression of Rac1, Dietz and his colleagueswere able to control whether or not the mice became addicted, bypreventing enhancement of the brain's reward center due to cocaineexposure. To do the experiment, Dietz and his colleagues used a novel tool,which allowed for light activation to control Rac1 expression, thefirst time that a light-activated protein has been used to modulatebrain plasticity. "We can now understand how proteins function in a very temporalpattern, so we could look at how regulating genes at a specifictime point could affect behavior, such as drug addiction, or adisease state," says Dietz. In his UB lab, Dietz is continuing his research on the relationshipbetween behavior and brain plasticity, looking, for example, at howplasticity might determine how much of a drug an animal takes andhow persistent the animal is in trying to get the drug. Additional References Citations. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Pillow Block Bearings , Ball Joint Bearings Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Angular Contact Ball Bearing.
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