INVESTIGADORES
BERNABEU Ramon Oscar
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION OF NURR1 IN THE VENTRAL TEGMENTAL AREA OF LOW AND HIGH NICOTINE-RESPONDER RATS
Autor/es:
PASTOR V, ANDRES M AND BERNABEU R
Lugar:
Santiago, Chile
Reunión:
Congreso; NEDA; 2009
Institución organizadora:
Neda
Resumen:
Diapositiva 1
.O
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The most
important mediator of drug reward is the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system,
comprised of DA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the projection
in the nucleus accumbens (Chao & Nestler, 2004). The transcription factor
Nurr1, a member of the NGFI-B family of nuclear orphan receptors, is highly
expressed in rodent VTA dopamine neurons and is essential for their phenotypic
development and maintenance (Bannon et al., 2002). There are several lines of
evidence indicating that the mesolimbic DA system, and particularly the VTA,
plays a critical role in the ability of nicotine to impact behavior (Vezina et
al., 2007) However, it is still unknown whether Nurr1 participates in
nicotine-induced behavioral changes.
Utilizing animal models that are based on
differential individual responsiveness to drugs may be an effective strategy
for identifying genes and cellular mechanisms that can contribute to
vulnerability to drug addiction (Allen et al., 2007). In this regard, we
investigated the expression of Nurr1 protein in the VTA of rats that displayed
high or low locomotor activity in response to a single injection of nicotine.
In addition, we trained the animals in a conditioned place preference (CPP)
paradigm, in order to evaluate nicotine rewarding properties in these two
behavioral groups.