Cocaine self-administration induces sex-dependent protein expression in the nucleus accumbens.

ABSTRACT: 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 that 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 stimulant drugs of abuse, such as cocaine. Here, we show that sex is a critical biological variable that defines drug-induced plasticity in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Using quantitative mass spectrometry, we assessed the protein expression patterns induced by cocaine self-administration and dem

SUBMITTER: Lopez AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8285523 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature