Investigating cocaine- and abstinence-induced effects on astrocyte gene expression in the nucleus accumbens.

ABSTRACT: In recent years, astrocytes have been increasingly implicated in cellular mechanisms of substance use disorders (SUD). Astrocytes are structurally altered following exposure to drugs of abuse; specifically, astrocytes within the nucleus accumbens (NAc) exhibit significantly decreased surface area, volume, and synaptic colocalization after operant self-administration of cocaine and extinction or protracted abstinence (45 days). However, the mechanisms that elicit these morphological modifications are unknown. The current study aims to elucidate the molecular modifications that lead to observed astrocyte structural changes in rats across cocaine abstinence using astrocyte-specific RiboTag and RNA-seq, as an unbiased, comprehensive approach to identify genes whose transcription or translation

SUBMITTER: Franklin JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11326167 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature