Thomas A. Green

Molecular adaptations underlying susceptibility and resistance to social defeat in brain reward regions.

While stressful life events are an important cause of psychopathology, most individuals exposed to adversity maintain normal psychological functioning. The molecular mechanisms underlying such resilience are poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that an inbred population of mice subjected to social defeat can be separated into susceptible and unsusceptible subpopulations that differ along several behavioral and physiological domains. By a combination of molecular and electrophysiological techniques, we identify signature adaptations within the mesolimbic dopamine circuit that are uniquely associated with vulnerability or insusceptibility. We show that molecular recapitulations of three prototypical adaptations associated with the unsusceptible phenotype are each sufficient to promote resistant behavior. Our results validate a multidisciplinary approach to examine the neurobiological mechanisms of variations in stress resistance, and illustrate the importance of plasticity within the brains reward circuits in actively maintaining an emotional homeostasis.

CREB modulates excitability of nucleus accumbens neurons.

Drugs of abuse cause activation of the cyclic AMP response element binding protein (CREB) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Expression of active CREB in rat NAc medium spiny neurons (MSNs) increased their excitability, whereas dominant-negative CREB had the opposite effect. Decreasing excitability of NAc MSNs in vivo by overexpression of potassium channels enhanced locomotor responses to cocaine, suggesting that the increased NAc MSN excitability caused by CREB helped to limit behavioral sensitivity to cocaine.

CREB regulation of nucleus accumbens excitability mediates social isolation-induced behavioral deficits

Here, we characterized behavioral abnormalities induced by prolonged social isolation in adult rodents. Social isolation induced both anxiety- and anhedonia-like symptoms and decreased cAMP response element–binding protein (CREB) activity in the nucleus accumbens shell (NAcSh). All of these abnormalities were reversed by chronic, but not acute, antidepressant treatment. However, although the anxiety phenotype and its reversal by antidepressant treatment were CREB-dependent, the anhedonia-like symptoms were not mediated by CREB in NAcSh. We found that decreased CREB activity in NAcSh correlated with increased expression of certain K+ channels and reduced electrical excitability of NAcSh neurons, which was sufficient to induce anxiety-like behaviors and was reversed by chronic antidepressant treatment. Together, our results describe a model that distinguishes anxiety- and depression-like behavioral phenotypes, establish a selective role of decreased CREB activity in NAcSh in anxiety-like behavior, and provide a mechanism by which antidepressant treatment alleviates anxiety symptoms after social isolation.

Nuclear factor kB signaling regulates neuronal morphology and cocaine reward

Although chronic cocaine-induced changes in dendritic spines on nucleus accumbens (NAc) neurons have been correlated with behavioral sensitization, the molecular pathways governing these structural changes, and their resulting behavioral effects, are poorly understood. The transcription factor, nuclear factor κ B (NFκB), is rapidly activated by diverse stimuli and regulates expression of many genes known to maintain cell structure. Therefore, we evaluated the role of NFκB in regulating cocaine-induced dendritic spine changes on medium spiny neurons of the NAc and the rewarding effects of cocaine. We show that chronic cocaine induces NFκB-dependent transcription in the NAc of NFκB-Lac transgenic mice. This induction of NFκB activity is accompanied by increased expression of several NFκB genes, the promoters of which show chromatin modifications after chronic cocaine exposure consistent with their transcriptional activation. To study the functional significance of this induction, we used viral-mediated gene transfer to express either a constitutively active or dominant-negative mutant of Inhibitor of κ B kinase (IKKca or IKKdn), which normally activates NFκB signaling, in the NAc. We found that activation of NFκB by IKKca increases the number of dendritic spines on NAc neurons, whereas inhibition of NFκB by IKKdn decreases basal dendritic spine number and blocks the increase in dendritic spines after chronic cocaine. Moreover, inhibition of NFκB blocks the rewarding effects of cocaine and the ability of previous cocaine exposure to increase an animals preference for cocaine. Together, these studies establish a direct role for NFκB pathways in the NAc to regulate structural and behavioral plasticity to cocaine.

Environmental enrichment decreases intravenous amphetamine self-administration in rats: dose-response functions for fixed- and progressive-ratio schedules

AbstractRationale. Although environmental enrichment renders rats more sensitive to the neurobehavioral effects of acute amphetamine, a previous study found that enriched rats self-administer less amphetamine than isolated rats at a low unit dose (0.03xa0mg/kg per infusion). In that study, however, acquisition of self-administration was limited to only two amphetamine unit doses using a fixed ratio (FR) schedule.n Objective. The current study defined the full dose-response relationship for amphetamine self-administration under FR1 and progressive ratio (PR) schedules of reinforcement in rats raised in either an enriched condition (EC) or an isolated condition (IC).n Methods. Rats were raised from 21 to 50 days of age in either an EC or IC environment. Rats were then trained to press a lever for sucrose before implantation of an intravenous jugular catheter. After implantation of the catheter, rats were allowed to acquire stable response patterns under an FR1 or PR schedule of reinforcement before determination of the dose-response function.n Results. EC rats self-administered less amphetamine at a low unit dose under both FR1 (0.006xa0mg/kg per infusion) and PR (0.02xa0mg/kg per infusion) schedules. However, responding for high unit doses was similar between the two groups.n Conclusions. This result suggests that environmental enrichment may be a protective factor for reducing amphetamine intake at a low dose.

ΔFosB Induction in Orbitofrontal Cortex Mediates Tolerance to Cocaine-Induced Cognitive Dysfunction

Current cocaine users show little evidence of cognitive impairment and may perform better when using cocaine, yet withdrawal from prolonged cocaine use unmasks dramatic cognitive deficits. It has been suggested that such impairments arise in part through drug-induced dysfunction within the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), yet the neurobiological mechanisms remain unknown. We observed that chronic cocaine self-administration increased expression of the transcription factor ΔFosB within both medial and orbitofrontal regions of the rat prefrontal cortex. However, the increase in OFC ΔFosB levels was more pronounced after self-administered rather than experimenter-administered cocaine, a pattern that was not observed in other regions. We then used rodent tests of attention and decision making to determine whether ΔFosB within the OFC contributes to drug-induced alterations in cognition. Chronic cocaine treatment produced tolerance to the cognitive impairments caused by acute cocaine. Overexpression of a dominant-negative antagonist of ΔFosB, ΔJunD, in the OFC prevented this behavioral adaptation, whereas locally overexpressing ΔFosB mimicked the effects of chronic cocaine. Gene microarray analyses identified potential molecular mechanisms underlying this behavioral change, including an increase in transcription of metabotropic glutamate receptor subunit 5 and GABAA receptors as well as substance P. Identification of ΔFosB in the OFC as a mediator of tolerance to the effects of cocaine on cognition provides fundamentally new insight into the transcriptional modifications associated with addiction.

Role of cAMP Response Element-Binding Protein in the Rat Locus Ceruleus: Regulation of Neuronal Activity and Opiate Withdrawal Behaviors

The transcription factor cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) is implicated in mediating the actions of chronic morphine in the locus ceruleus (LC), but direct evidence to support such a role is limited. Here, we investigated the influence of CREB on LC neuronal activity and opiate withdrawal behaviors by selectively manipulating CREB activity in the LC using viral vectors encoding genes for CREBGFP (wild-type CREB tagged with green fluorescent protein), caCREBGFP (a constitutively active CREB mutant), dnCREBGFP (a dominant-negative CREB mutant), or GFP alone as a control. Our results show that in vivo overexpression of CREBGFP in the LC significantly aggravated particular morphine withdrawal behaviors, whereas dnCREBGFP expression attenuated these behaviors. At the cellular level, CREBGFP expression in the LC in vivo and in vitro had no significant effect on neuronal firing at baseline but enhanced the excitatory effect of forskolin (an activator of adenylyl cyclase) on these neurons, which suggests that the cAMP signaling pathway in these neurons was sensitized after CREB expression. Moreover, in vitro studies showed that caCREBGFP-expressing LC neurons fired significantly faster and had a more depolarized resting membrane potential compared with GFP-expressing control cells. Conversely, LC neuronal activity was decreased by dnCREBGFP, and the neurons were hyperpolarized by this treatment. Together, these data provide direct evidence that CREB plays an important role in controlling the electrical excitability of LC neurons and that morphine-induced increases in CREB activity contribute to the behavioral and neural adaptations associated with opiate dependence and withdrawal.

Environmental Enrichment Produces a Behavioral Phenotype Mediated by Low Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate Response Element Binding (CREB) Activity in the Nucleus Accumbens

BACKGROUNDnPrevious research has shown that rats reared in an enriched condition (EC) are more sensitive to the acute effects of amphetamine than rats reared in an isolated condition (IC); yet, EC rats self-administer less amphetamine than IC rats. The present study used cocaine to further explore this environmental enrichment behavioral phenotype, as well as the underlying molecular mechanisms involved.nnnMETHODSnEnriched condition and IC rats were studied in a broad battery of behavioral tests, including cocaine conditioned place preference (CPP) and self-administration and several measures of anxiety- and depression-related behavior. The involvement of the transcription factor, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) response element binding protein (CREB), in mediating EC versus IC differences was investigated.nnnRESULTSnEnriched condition rats exhibited less cocaine self-administration, despite showing enhanced cocaine CPP. Enriched condition rats also displayed less depression-like behavior but higher levels of anxiety-like behavior. This behavioral phenotype is consistent with low CREB activity in the nucleus accumbens, a key brain reward region. Indeed, EC rats have less phospho-CREB (the transcriptionally active form of the protein) in the nucleus accumbens than IC rats, and a selective knockdown of CREB in this brain region of normally reared rats, by use of a novel viral vector expressing a short hairpin RNA (shRNA) directed against CREB, reproduced the EC behavioral phenotype.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThese studies identify a potential molecular mechanism for how rearing environment-a nonpharmacological, nonsurgical manipulation-can modify a wide range of complex emotional behaviors.

Nornicotine is self-administered intravenously by rats

Abstractu2002 Rationale: Nicotine is a tobacco alkaloid known to be important in the acquisition and maintenance of tobacco smoking. However, other constituents in tobacco may contribute to the dependence liability. Objective: The present report sought to determine whether nornicotine, a tobacco alkaloid and metabolite of nicotine, has a reinforcing effect. Methods: Rats were prepared with a jugular catheter, then were allowed to self-administer intravenously either S(–)-nicotine (0.03 mg/kg/infusion), RS(±)-nornicotine (0.3 mg/kg/infusion) or saline using a two-lever operant procedure. The response requirement for each infusion was incremented gradually from a fixed ratio 1 (FR1) to FR5. When responding stabilized on the FR5, other doses of nicotine (0.01 mg/kg/infusion and 0.06 mg/kg/infusion) and nornicotine (0.075, 0.15, and 0.6 mg/kg/infusion) were tested for their ability to control responding. Results: Similar to nicotine, rats self-administered nornicotine significantly above saline control levels. Within the dose ranges tested, both nicotine and nornicotine yielded relatively flat dose–response functions. Extinction of responding was evident when saline was substituted for nornicotine, and responding was reinstated when nornicotine again was available. The rate of nornicotine self-administration was similar between rats tested with either 24-h or 48-h inter-session intervals. Conclusion: These results indicate that nornicotine contributes to the dependence liability associated with tobacco use.

The Influence of ΔFosB in the Nucleus Accumbens on Natural Reward-Related Behavior

The transcription factor deltaFosB (ΔFosB), induced in nucleus accumbens (NAc) by chronic exposure to drugs of abuse, has been shown to mediate sensitized responses to these drugs. However, less is known about a role for ΔFosB in regulating responses to natural rewards. Here, we demonstrate that two powerful natural reward behaviors, sucrose drinking and sexual behavior, increase levels of ΔFosB in the NAc. We then use viral-mediated gene transfer to study how such ΔFosB induction influences behavioral responses to these natural rewards. We demonstrate that overexpression of ΔFosB in the NAc increases sucrose intake and promotes aspects of sexual behavior. In addition, we show that animals with previous sexual experience, which exhibit increased ΔFosB levels, also show an increase in sucrose consumption. This work suggests that ΔFosB is not only induced in the NAc by drugs of abuse, but also by natural rewarding stimuli. Additionally, our findings show that chronic exposure to stimuli that induce ΔFosB in the NAc can increase consumption of other natural rewards.