The Extracellular Matrix Protein Brevican Limits Time-Dependent Enhancement of Cocaine Conditioned Place Preference.

ABSTRACT: Cocaine-associated environmental cues sustain relapse vulnerability by reactivating long-lasting memories of cocaine reward. During periods of abstinence, responding to cocaine cues can time-dependently intensify a phenomenon referred to as 'incubation of cocaine craving'. Here, we investigated the role of the extracellular matrix protein brevican in recent (1 day after training) and remote (3 weeks after training) expression of cocaine conditioned place preference (CPP). Wild-type and Brevican heterozygous knock-out mice, which express brevican at ~50% of wild-type levels, received three cocaine-context pairings using a relatively low dose of cocaine (5 mg/kg). In a drug-free CPP test, heterozygous mice showed enhanced preference for the cocaine-associated context at the remote time point

SUBMITTER: Lubbers BR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4869060 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature