DOPAMINERGIC GENE-EXPRESSION DURING AMPHETAMINE WITHDRAWAL

Animals and humans display a constellation of behavioral and neurochemical signs after termination of psychostimulant administration. Amphetamine withdrawal could involve the dopaminergic systems that are thought to underlie psychostimulant rewarding effects, and may thus conceivably alter expression of key genes for dopaminergic transmission, including those encoding tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the membrane dopamine transporter (DAT) and the synaptic vesicle amine transporter (SVAT). Withdrawal from 7.5 mg kg-1 i.p. amphetamine (b.i.d. for a two week duration) yields no significant changes in rat DAT mRNA. TH mRNA levels are modestly enhanced over the same week of withdrawal, during which dopamine levels and behavioral novelty responses are both depressed. SVAT expression is significantly blunted following chronic amphetamine treatment. Altered TH and/or SVAT gene expression might contribute to restoring normal function to neurons "withdrawing" from amphetamine treatments

Sodium- and chloride-dependent transporters in brain, kidney, and gut: lessons from complementary DNA cloning and structure-function studies.

The family of Na(+)- and Cl(-)-dependent, 12 transmembrane domain transporter proteins now includes transporters for neurotransmitter molecules in the brain and for substances important in extraneuronal tissues, including adrenal, kidney, and gut. Transported substrates include monoamine and amino acid neurotransmitters and nonperturbing osmolytes. A common protein topology is predicted and features intracellular N- and C-termini possessing phosphorylation sites and at least one large extramembranous loop with N-linked glycosylation. Using the rat dopamine transporter as a template, molecular modeling of putative transmembrane domains coupled with amino acid sequence conservation analysis indicates amino acid residues potentially involved in substrate and/or ion recognition. Targeting such residues with site-directed mutagenesis will help clarify substrate and ion binding sites and should facilitate rational design of therapeutics to combat depression, locomotor disorders, and substance abuse.close1

Increased response to morphine in mice lacking protein kinase C epsilon

The protein kinase C (PKC) family of serine–threonine kinases has been implicated in behavioral responses to opiates, but little is known about the individual PKC isozymes involved. Here, we show that mice lacking PKCε have increased sensitivity to the rewarding effects of morphine, revealed as the expression of place preference and intravenous self-administration at very low doses of morphine that do not evoke place preference or self-administration in wild-type mice. The PKCε null mice also show prolonged maintenance of morphine place preference in response to repeated testing when compared with wild-type mice. The supraspinal analgesic effects of morphine are enhanced in PKCε null mice, and the development of tolerance to the spinal analgesic effects of morphine is delayed. The density of μ-opioid receptors and their coupling to G-proteins are normal. These studies identify PKCε as a key regulator of opiate sensitivity in mice