title: Impairing the amphetamine conditioning in rats through the inhibition of hippocampal calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II activity.
abstract: Amphetamine is an addictive drug, possessing reinforcing properties that are believed to be associated with an environmental cue, which resembles a behavioral learning process. This study investigates the role of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM-kinase II) in the acquisition of the amphetamine-produced conditioned place preference (CPP). In Experiment I, rats were trained in an amphetamine-produced (2 mg/kg, i.p.) CPP task. The amphetamine-saline pairing rats spent significantly more time in the box that was associated with the amphetamine injection. Moreover, these rats' hippocampal CaM-kinase II showed significantly higher Ca(2+)-independent activity than that of the controls. In experiment II, the rats received an intra-hippocampal or intra-accumbens injection of specific CaM-kinase II inhibitor (KN-93) or a controlled agent (KN-92) before training in the amphetamine-produced CPP task. The rats receiving the preconditioning intra-hippocampal KN-93 injection showed no amphetamine-produced CPP effect. These results, taken together, indicate that the biological basis of amphetamine-produced place preference behavior might be regulated by the hippocampal CaM-kinase II activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Kaohsiung Medical University, 100 Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan, ROC. soonen@cc.kmu.edu.tw
authors.forename: S-E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000661:Amphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001596:Benzylamines / Q000494:pharmacology; D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000378:metabolism; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000494:pharmacology; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013449:Sulfonamides / Q000494:pharmacology; D000096926:Benzenesulfonamides
chemical_list: D000661:Amphetamine; D001596:Benzylamines; D054732:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D013449:Sulfonamides; C072105:KN 93; D000096926:Benzenesulfonamides