Addiction Rehab: Functional Role of Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis as a Therapeutic Strategy for Mental Disorders.
Functional role of adult hippocampal neurogenesis as a therapeutic strategy for mental disorders.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
Neural Plast. 2012; 2012: 854285
Jun H, Mohammed Qasim Hussaini S, Rigby MJ, Jang MH
Adult neurogenesis, the process of generating new neurons from neural stem cells, plays significant roles in synaptic plasticity, memory, and mood regulation. In the mammalian brain, it continues to occur well into adulthood in discrete regions, namely, the hippocampus and olfactory bulb. During the past decade, significant progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms regulating adult hippocampal neurogenesis and its role in the etiology of mental disorders. In addition, adult hippocampal neurogenesis is highly correlated with the remission of the antidepressant effect. In this paper, we discuss three major psychiatric disorders, depression, schizophrenia, and drug addiction, in light of preclinical evidence used in establishing the neurobiological significance of adult neurogenesis. We interpret the significance of these results and pose questions that remain unanswered. Potential treatments which include electroconvulsive therapy, deep brain stimulation, chemical antidepressants, and exercise therapy are discussed. While consensus lacks on specific mechanisms, we highlight evidence which indicates that these treatments may function via an increase in neural progenitor proliferation and changes to the hippocampal circuitry. Establishing a significant role of adult neurogenesis in the pathogenicity of psychiatric disorders may hold the key to potential strategies toward effective treatment.
HubMed – addiction
Peptide Inhibitors Disrupt the Serotonin 5-HT2C Receptor Interaction with Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog to Allosterically Modulate Cellular Signaling and Behavior.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
J Neurosci. 2013 Jan 23; 33(4): 1615-30
Anastasio NC, Gilbertson SR, Bubar MJ, Agarkov A, Stutz SJ, Jeng Y, Bremer NM, Smith TD, Fox RG, Swinford SE, Seitz PK, Charendoff MN, Craft JW, Laezza FM, Watson CS, Briggs JM, Cunningham KA
Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) signaling through the 5-HT(2C) receptor (5-HT(2C)R) is essential in normal physiology, whereas aberrant 5-HT(2C)R function is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of multiple neural disorders. The 5-HT(2C)R interacts with specific protein partners, but the impact of such interactions on 5-HT(2C)R function is poorly understood. Here, we report convergent cellular and behavioral data that the interaction between the 5-HT(2C)R and protein phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) serves as a regulatory mechanism to control 5-HT(2C)R-mediated biology but not that of the closely homologous 5-HT(2A)R. A peptide derived from the third intracellular loop of the human 5-HT(2C)R [3L4F (third loop, fourth fragment)] disrupted the association, allosterically augmented 5-HT(2C)R-mediated signaling in live cells, and acted as a positive allosteric modulator in rats in vivo. We identified the critical residues within an 8 aa fragment of the 3L4F peptide that maintained efficacy (within the picomolar range) in live cells similar to that of the 3L4F peptide. Last, molecular modeling identified key structural features and potential interaction sites of the active 3L4F peptides against PTEN. These compelling data demonstrate the specificity and importance of this protein assembly in cellular events and behaviors mediated by 5-HT(2C)R signaling and provide a chemical guidepost to the future development of drug-like peptide or small-molecule inhibitors as neuroprobes to study 5-HT(2C)R allostery and therapeutics for 5-HT(2C)R-mediated disorders.
HubMed – addiction
Central Amygdala GluA1 Facilitates Associative Learning of Opioid Reward.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
J Neurosci. 2013 Jan 23; 33(4): 1577-88
Cai YQ, Wang W, Hou YY, Zhang Z, Xie J, Pan ZZ
GluA1 subunits of AMPA glutamate receptors are implicated in the synaptic plasticity induced by drugs of abuse for behaviors of drug addiction, but GluA1 roles in emotional learning and memories of drug reward in the development of drug addiction remain unclear. In this study of the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA), which is critical in emotional learning of drug reward, we investigated how adaptive changes in the expression of GluA1 subunits affected the learning process of opioid-induced context-reward association (associative learning) for the acquisition of reward-related behavior. In CeA neurons, we found that CeA GluA1 expression was significantly increased 2 h after conditioning treatment with morphine, but not 24 h after the conditioning when the behavior of conditioned place reference (CPP) was fully established in rats. Adenoviral overexpression of GluA1 subunits in CeA accelerated associative learning, as shown by reduced minimum time of morphine conditioning required for CPP acquisition and by facilitated CPP extinction through extinction training with no morphine involved. Adenoviral shRNA-mediated downregulation of CeA GluA1 produced opposite effects, inhibiting the processes of both CPP acquisition and CPP extinction. Adenoviral knockdown of CeA GluA2 subunits facilitated CPP acquisition, but did not alter CPP extinction. Whole-cell recording revealed enhanced electrophysiological properties of postsynaptic GluA2-lacking AMPA receptors in adenoviral GluA1-infected CeA neurons. These results suggest that increased GluA1 expression of CeA AMPA receptors facilitates the associative learning of context-drug reward, an important process in both development and relapse of drug-seeking behaviors in drug addiction.
HubMed – addiction
Persistent Reversal of Enhanced Amphetamine Intake by Transient CaMKII Inhibition.
Filed under: Addiction Rehab
J Neurosci. 2013 Jan 23; 33(4): 1411-6
Loweth JA, Li D, Cortright JJ, Wilke G, Jeyifous O, Neve RL, Bayer KU, Vezina P
Amphetamine exposure transiently increases Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) ? expression in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) shell and this persistently increases local GluA1 S831 phosphorylation and enhances behavioral responding to the drug. Here we assessed whether transiently interfering with CaMKII signaling using a dominant-negative CaMKII? mutant delivered to the NAcc shell with herpes simplex viral vectors could reverse these long-lasting biochemical and behavioral effects observed following exposure to amphetamine. As expected, transient expression of CaMKII? K42M in the NAcc shell produced a corresponding transient increase in CaMKII? and decrease in pCaMKII? (T286) protein levels in this site. Remarkably, this transient inhibition of CaMKII activity produced a long-lasting reversal of the increased GluA1 S831 phosphorylation levels in NAcc shell and persistently blocked the enhanced locomotor response to and self-administration of amphetamine normally observed in rats previously exposed to the drug. Together, these results indicate that even transient interference with CaMKII signaling may confer long-lasting benefits in drug-sensitized individuals and point to CaMKII and its downstream pathways as attractive therapeutic targets for the treatment of stimulant addiction.
HubMed – addiction
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