GSE110344
Cocaine self-administration alters transcriptome-wide responses in the brain's reward circuitry
Global changes in gene expression that underlie the circuit and behavioral dysregulation associated with cocaine addiction remain incompletely understood. Here, we determined how a history of cocaine self-administration (SA) “re-programs” transcriptome-wide responses at baseline and in response to cocaine re-exposure after prolonged withdrawal (WD). We assigned male mice to one of six groups: saline or cocaine SA + 24 hr WD; or saline/cocaine SA + 30 d WD + an acute saline/cocaine challenge within the previous drug-paired context. RNA-seq was then conducted on six interconnected brain reward regions. We focused on patterns of gene expression that were altered by cocaine SA, in particular, molecular targets that show priming or desensitization upon re-exposure to cocaine. Genes that were affected uniquely by acute cocaine after cocaine SA+WD displayed region-specific regulation. The greatest number of regulated genes were seen in nucleus accumbens, dorsal striatum, and basolateral amygdala. Further analysis revealed several transcription factors as key upstream regulators in these three regions, including several not previously implicated in cocaine action. Regulation of subsets of these primed and desensitized genes correlated robustly with SA behavior displayed by individual mice. For example, analysis of transcriptome-wide expression changes revealed that genes associated with cocaine intake respond to contextual information in a region-specific manner. This comprehensive picture of transcriptome-wide regulation by cocaine SA and WD throughout the brain's reward circuitry provides new insight into the molecular basis of cocaine addiction, which will guide future studies of the key molecular pathways involved. Overall design: Understanding global changes in gene expression underlying behavioral dysregulation associated with cocaine addiction