Cocaine activates Homer1 immediate early gene transcription in the mesocorticolimbic circuit: differential regulation by dopamine and glutamate signaling.

ABSTRACT: Homer proteins are intracellular scaffolding proteins that, among glutamate receptors, selectively bind to group1 metabotropic glutamate receptors and regulate their trafficking and intracellular signaling. Homer proteins have been implicated in synaptic and behavioral plasticity, including drug-seeking behavior after cocaine treatment. Homer1 gene activation leads to transcription of a variant mRNA (Homer1a), which functions as an immediate early gene. Homer1a competes with the constitutive Homer proteins (Homer1b/c/d, Homer2a/b, Homer3) for binding to group1 metabotropic glutamate and IP3 receptors. Binding of Homer1a to these proteins disrupts their association with the intracellular signaling scaffold and modulates receptor function. In this study, using RT-PCR, activation of Homer1a m

SUBMITTER: Ghasemzadeh MB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4000161 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature