Project description:Gene expression profiling of nucleus Accumbens of rats that self administered cocaine and were subjected to 1 or 30 withdrawal days with or without extinction tests. The groups consist of 1. Saline rats (Sal.) 2. Rats that self-administered cocaine for 10 days and that were subjected to a withdrawal period of 1 day (1W) 3. Rats that self-administered cocaine for 10 days and that were subjected to a withdrawal period of 1 day and to an extinction test for assessment of cue-induced cocaine-seeking behavior (1C) 4. Rats that self-administered cocaine for 10 days and that were subjected to a withdrawal period of 30 days (30W) 5. Rats that self-administered cocaine for 10 days and that were subjected to a withdrawal period of 30 days and to an extinction test for assessment of cue-induced cocaine-seeking behavior (30C)
Project description:DNA methylation profiling of nucleus Accumbens of rats that self administered cocaine, were subjected to 30 withdrawal days, were treated with aCSF, RG108 or SAM and were subjected to extinction tests. The groups consist of: 1. Rats that self-administered cocaine for 10 days and that were subjected to a withdrawal period of 30 days, were injected in the nucleus accumbens with aCSF and were subjected to an extinction test for assessment of cue-induced cocaine-seeking behavior (aCSF) 2. Rats that self-administered cocaine for 10 days and that were subjected to a withdrawal period of 30 days, were injected in the nucleus accumbens with RG108 and were subjected to an extinction test for assessment of cue-induced cocaine-seeking behavior (RG108) 3. Rats that self-administered cocaine for 10 days and that were subjected to a withdrawal period of 30 days, were injected in the nucleus accumbens with SAM and were subjected to an extinction test for assessment of cue-induced cocaine-seeking behavior (SAM)
Project description:DNA methylation profiling of nucleus Accumbens of rats that self administered cocaine and were subjected to 1 or 30 withdrawal days with or without extinction tests. The groups consist of 1. Saline rats (Sal.) 2. Rats that self-administered cocaine for 10 days and that were subjected to a withdrawal period of 1 day (1W) 3. Rats that self-administered cocaine for 10 days and that were subjected to a withdrawal period of 1 day and to an extinction test for assessment of cue-induced cocaine-seeking behavior (1C) 4. Rats that self-administered cocaine for 10 days and that were subjected to a withdrawal period of 30 days (30W) 5. Rats that self-administered cocaine for 10 days and that were subjected to a withdrawal period of 30 days and to an extinction test for assessment of cue-induced cocaine-seeking behavior (30C)
Project description:Substance use disorder (SUD) is a chronic neuropsychiatric condition characterized by long-lasting alterations in the neural circuitry regulating reward and motivation. Substantial work has focused on characterizing the molecular substrates which underlie these persistent changes in neural function and behavior; however, this work has overwhelmingly focused on male subjects, despite mounting clinical and preclinical evidence that females demonstrate dissimilar progression to SUD and responsivity to drugs of abuse, such as cocaine. Here, we show that sex is a critical biological variable that defines drug-induced plasticity in the NAc. Using quantitative mass spectrometry, we assessed the protein expression patterns altered by cocaine self-administration and demonstrate unique molecular profiles between males and females. We show that 1. Cocaine self-administration induces non-overlapping protein expression patterns in males and females and 2. Cocaine specifically acts on baseline sexual dimorphisms to exert these effects. Critically, we find that cocaine administration blunts not only basal sex-differences in the accumbens proteome, but also the pre-existing sex differences in behavior for natural rewards. Together, these data suggest that chronic cocaine is capable of rewriting baseline proteomic function to maintain cocaine-specific behaviors.
Project description:Methamphetamine is a widely abused, highly addictive drug. Regulation of synaptic proteins within the brain’s reward pathway modulates addiction behaviours, the progression of drug addiction and long-term changes in brain structure and function that result from drug use. Therefore, using large scale proteomics studies we aim to identify global protein expression changes within the dorsal striatum, a key brain region involved in the modulation of addiction. We performed LC-MS/MS analyses on rat striatal synaptosomes following 30 days of methamphetamine self-administration (2 hours/day) and 14 days abstinence. We identified a total of 84 differentially-expressed proteins with known roles in neuroprotection, neuroplasticity, cell cytoskeleton, energy regulation and synaptic vesicles. We identify significant expression changes in stress-induced phosphoprotein and protein Tppp, which have not previously been associated with addiction. In addition, we confirm the role of amphiphysin and phosphatidylethanolamine binding protein in addiction. This approach has provided new insight into the effects of methamphetamine self-administration on synaptic protein expression in a key brain region associated with addiction, showing a large set of differentially-expressed proteins that persist into abstinence.
Project description:This study aimed to uncover changes in gene expression in key brain regions associated with social bonding neuroplasticity in adult prairie voles. The experimental workflow involved the following steps: 1. Male (Ma) and female (Fe) prairie voles were subjected to social cohabitation and mating (SCM) conditions for 120 h, with isolated animals serving as controls. 2. RNA was extracted and analyzing RNA from three brain regions crucial for social bonding and neuroplasticity: the subventricular zone (SVZ), dentate gyrus (DG), and nucleus accumbens (NAc). 3. RNA sequencing was performed to identify differentially expressed genes between the SCM and control groups. 4. Gene ontology (GO) and functional enrichment analyses were performed to understand the biological processes involved in pair bonding. 5. Validation of key findings through quantitative PCR and in vitro neurosphere assays using cells isolated from the SVZ. This approach allowed the examination of sex-specific changes in gene expression related to neurogenesis, synaptic plasticity, and other probable molecular pathways involved in pair bond formation, with potential implications for understanding human relationships and related neuropsychiatric conditions.
Project description:Scottish trained individuals (SCO; n = 18) living and training at or near sea-level and Kenyan runners (KEN; n = 20) living and training at ~2,150 m received rHuEPO injections of 50 IUâ kg-1 body mass every two days for four weeks. Blood was collected at baseline, during rHuEPO administration and for four weeks after administration. Eight time points per subject were selected for gene expression analysis; two baseline samples, then one sample at two days, two weeks and four weeks after the first rHuEPO injection and one week, two weeks and four weeks after ceasing rHuEPO administration. RNA was extracted from blood stabilized in Tempus Blood RNA tubes (Life Technologies), amplified, labelled and hybridized to Illumina HumanHT-12v4 Expression BeadChips (Illumina). Expression data was analysed using Rank Products with a Benjamini-Hochberg 5% false discovery rate and an additional 1.5 fold-change threshold. The expression profiles of a subset of target genes was further confirmed using QuantiGene Plex assay (Affymetrix) and Limma (linear models for microarray).
Project description:Delayed graft function (DGF) is associated with a reduced graft survival. Donors' features have been always considered as key pathogenic factors in this setting. The aim of our study was to evaluate the role of recipients' characteristics in the development of DGF. We prospectively enrolled 932 kidney graft recipients from 466 donors. A total of 226 recipients experienced DGF. Among the 466 donors, in 290 both recipients presented with early graft function (EGF, group A), in 50 both recipients experienced DGF (group B) and in 126 one recipient presented with DGF and the other with EGF (group C). In group C we randomly selected 7 couples of DGF/EGF recipients. In these patients, circulating mononuclear cells were harvested before transplantation and their transcriptomic profile was investigated by a microarray approach. Results were validated by qPCR in an independent group of EGF/DGF couples.
Project description:A single bout of exercise induces changes in gene expression in skeletal muscle. Regular exercise results in an adaptive response involving changes in muscle architecture and biochemistry, and is an effective way to manage and prevent common human diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disorders and type II diabetes. Our study is a transcriptome-wide analysis of skeletal muscle tissue in a large cohort of untrained Thoroughbred horses before and after a bout of high-intensity exercise and again after an extended period of training. We hypothesized that regular high-intensity exercise training primes the transcriptome for the demands of high-intensity exercise.