title: Partial deletion of the cAMP response element-binding protein gene promotes alcohol-drinking behaviors.
abstract: The cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) gene transcription factor has been shown to play a role in the synaptic plasticity associated with drug addictive behaviors; however, the causal role of the CREB gene in alcohol-drinking behaviors is unknown. The present investigation evaluated alcohol-drinking behaviors in mice that are haplodeficient in CREB as a result of targeted CREB (alpha and Delta) gene disruption. It was found that CREB-haplodeficient (+/-) mice have higher preference for ethanol but not for sucrose solution than wild-type (+/+) littermates. The functional aspects of the CREB gene transcription factor were also investigated by measuring the protein levels of phosphorylated CREB (p-CREB) and the expression of cAMP-inducible genes such as neuropeptide Y (NPY) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Deletion of the CREB (alpha and Delta) gene significantly decreases total CREB, p-CREB levels and the expression of NPY and BDNF in the brain structures of CREB-deficient (+/-) mice. It was also found that CREB-deficient (+/-) mice displayed more anxiety-like behaviors and that acute ethanol exposure produced anxiolytic effects and significantly increased protein levels of p-CREB and NPY in the central and medial but not in the basolateral amygdala of wild-type mice, but these effects are attenuated in CREB-deficient mice compared with wild-type mice. These results provide the first direct evidence that a haplodeficiency of the CREB gene is associated with increased alcohol-drinking behaviors. Furthermore, alcohol drinking and anxiety-like behaviors in CREB-haplodeficient mice may possibly be related to decreased expression of NPY and BDNF in the brains of these mice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The Psychiatric Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago and Veterans Affairs Chicago Health Care System, Chicago, Illinois 60612, USA. scpandey@uic.edu
authors.forename: Subhash C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Pandey
authors.forename: Adip
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.forename: Huaibo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Tiejun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000235:genetics; D000679:Amygdala / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000235:genetics; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism; D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood; D017353:Gene Deletion; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D017362:Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein; D000431:Ethanol