Transactivation of TrkB by Sigma-1 receptor mediates cocaine-induced changes in dendritic spine density and morphology in hippocampal and cortical neurons.

ABSTRACT: Cocaine is a highly addictive narcotic associated with dendritic spine plasticity in the striatum. However, it remains elusive whether cocaine modifies spines in a cell type-specific or region-specific manner or whether it alters different types of synapses in the brain. In addition, there is a paucity of data on the regulatory mechanism(s) involved in cocaine-induced modification of spine density. In the current study, we report that cocaine exposure differentially alters spine density, spine morphology, and the types of synapses in hippocampal and cortical neurons. Cocaine exposure in the hippocampus resulted in increased spine density, but had no significant effect on cortical neurons. Although cocaine exposure altered spine morphology in both cell types, the patterns of spine morpholog

SUBMITTER: Ka M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5133986 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature