Role of Wnt/b-catenin signaling pathway in the development of cocaine induced sensitization

CUESTA, SANTIAGO; BATUECAS, JORGELINA A.; SEVERIN, MA. JULIA; ROSSO, SILVANA B; PACCHIONI, ALEJANDRA M

Congreso; XXVII Congreso Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigaciones en Neurociencias; 2012

Wnt factors are cistein rich secreted proteins that interact with their receptors: Frizzled, Ryk, and Ror. As a result of the interaction, Dishevelled (DVL) is activated, and consequently, one of three pathways: Wnt/b-catenin, Planar Cell Polarity, or Wnt/calcium pathways. Wnt signaling pathways are essential for development of the mammalian brain. However little is known regarding its role in adulthood. Our main goal is to elucidate if the Wnt/b-catenin signaling pathway participates in cocaine sensitization. Then, adult male Wistar rats received cocaine injections daily for a week and motor activity was recorded on Day 1 and Day 7. At different times after cocaine injection on Day 7 animals were sacrificed, and brains areas were dissected to study expression levels of b-catenin in total homogenates as well as cellular subfractions. Our data showed changes in response to daily cocaine injections only in Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) and no changes were found in Nucleus Accumbens, while Dorsal Striatum showed changes at both acute and daily cocaine injections. Furthermore, ongoing studies are evaluating mRNA levels of Wnt by RT-PCR. So far our data suggests that b-catenin in PFC is involved in the development of cocaine induced sensitization. Research supported by: PICT 2008-227(National Agency of Scientific Promotion; Argentina)