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Introduction: The rewarding effects of drugs of abuse are associated with the dopaminergic system in the limbic circuitry. Nicotine exposure during adolescence is linked to increased use of drugs of abuse with nicotine and methamphetamine (METH) commonly used together. Nicotine acts on neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) systems, critical for reward processing and drug reinforcement, while METH leads to a higher dopamine (DA) efflux in brain reward regions. A human single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of the α6 nicotinic receptor subunit gene (CHRNA6, rs2304297), has been linked with tobacco/nicotine and general substance use during adolescence. Using CRISPR-Cas9 genomic engineering, our lab recapitulated the CHRNA6 3'UTRC123G SNP, generating α6CC and α6GG allele carriers in Sprague Dawley rats. We hypothesized the CHRNA6 3'UTRC123G SNP would sex- and genotype-dependently enhance nicotine-induced METH self-administration as well as nicotine-induced DA overflow in the nucleus accumbens shell of adolescent α6GG and α6CC carriers. Methods: Adolescent male and female rats underwent a 4-day sub-chronic, low-dose (0.03 mg/kg/0.1 mL, x2) nicotine pretreatment paradigm to assess intravenous METH (0.02 mg/kg/0.1 mL) self-administration as well as nicotine- and METH (0.02 mg/kg/0.1 mL)-induced DA overflow in the nucleus accumbens shell (NAcS) using in vivo microdialysis coupled with high-performance liquid-chromatography-electrochemical detection (HPLC-ECD). Results: Nicotine pretreatment sex- and genotype-dependently enhanced subsequent METH self-administration in adolescent CHRNA6 3'UTRC123G SNP rats. Further nicotine and METH-induced DA overflow is observed in α6CC females as compared to α6GG females, with METH-induced DA overflow enhanced in α6GG males when compared to α6CC males. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that the CHRNA6 3'-UTRC123G SNP can sex- and genotype-dependently impact adolescent nicotine-induced effects on METH self-administration and stimulant-induced DA overflow in reward regions of the brain.
RESUMEN
In human adolescents, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs2304297, in the 3'-UTR of the nicotinic receptor subunit gene, CHRNA6, has been associated with increased smoking. To study the effects of the human CHRNA6 3'-UTR SNP, our lab generated knock-in rodent lines with either C or G SNP alleles. The objective of this study was to determine if the CHRNA6 3'-UTR SNP is functional in the knock-in rat lines. We hypothesized that the human CHRNA6 3'-UTR SNP knock-in does not impact baseline but enhances nicotine-induced behaviors. For baseline behaviors, rats underwent food self-administration at escalating schedules of reinforcement followed by a locomotor assay and a series of anxiety tests (postnatal day (PN) 25-39). In separate cohorts, adolescent rats underwent 1- or 4-day nicotine pretreatment (2×, 30 µg/kg/0.1 mL, i.v.). After the last nicotine injection (PN 31), animals were assessed behaviorally in an open-field chamber, and brain tissue was collected. We show the human CHRNA6 3'-UTR SNP knock-in does not affect food reinforcement, locomotor activity, or anxiety. Further, 4-day, but not 1-day, nicotine exposure enhances locomotion and anxiolytic behavior in a genotype- and sex-specific manner. These findings demonstrate that the human CHRNA6 3'-UTR SNP is functional in our in vivo model.
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Nicotina , Receptores Nicotínicos , Regiones no Traducidas 3' , Adolescente , Animales , Femenino , Genotipo , Humanos , Masculino , Nicotina/farmacología , Polimorfismo de Nucleótido Simple , Ratas , Receptores Nicotínicos/genéticaRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Initiation of tobacco products typically occurs in adolescence. Adolescence is a critical period in development where the maturation of brain neurocircuitry is vulnerable to nicotine. Nicotine-containing products and psychostimulants, such as methamphetamine (METH), are often coabused. Rodent studies have shown that nicotine exposure in early adolescence increases subsequent drug intake and reward. Given the exponential increase in e-cigarette use among adolescents, there is a pressing need to understand whether adolescent nicotine exposure impacts concurrent increased METH use. The objective of this study is to evaluate age, sex, and longitudinal effects of nicotine pretreatment on METH reinforcement. AIMS AND METHODS: Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were pretreated with a subchronic, low-dose nicotine (2×, 30 µg/kg/0.1 mL, intravenous) or saline during early adolescence (postnatal days [PN] 28-31) or adulthood (PN 86-89). Following nicotine pretreatment, on PN 32 or PN 90, animals underwent operant intravenous self-administration for METH (20 µg/kg/inf) over a 2-hour period for five consecutive days. RESULTS: Early adolescent nicotine exposure enhances intravenous METH self-administration in male, but not female adolescents. Male adult rats self-administer METH over the 5-day testing period, independent of nicotine exposure. In contrast, nicotine exposure increases METH self-administration in female adults during the later sessions of the 5-day testing period. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our data highlight age- and sex-dependent effects of low dose, subchronic nicotine pretreatment on subsequent intravenous METH self-administration. IMPLICATIONS: A majority of polysubstance users begin smoking before the age of 18. Mounting evidence highlights adolescent susceptibility to nicotine exposure on brain and behavior. With the escalation in nicotine-containing products and stimulant use among adolescents, it is important to identify the consequences from adolescent nicotine use, including polysubstance use. Our study provides evidence that adolescent nicotine exposure enhances subsequent METH use, with important sex- and age-dependent effects.
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Estimulantes del Sistema Nervioso Central , Sistemas Electrónicos de Liberación de Nicotina , Metanfetamina , Animales , Estimulantes del Sistema Nervioso Central/farmacología , Condicionamiento Operante , Masculino , Metanfetamina/farmacología , Nicotina , Ratas , Ratas Sprague-Dawley , AutoadministraciónRESUMEN
An exponential rise in nicotine-containing electronic-cigarette use has been observed during the period of adolescence. Preclinical studies have shown that nicotine exposure during early adolescence, but not adulthood, increases subsequent drug intake and reward. Although growing clinical trends highlight that stimulant use disorders are associated with the opioid epidemic, very few studies have assessed the effects of adolescent nicotine exposure on opioid intake. The objective of our current study is to develop a new animal model to assess the causal relationship of adolescent nicotine exposure on subsequent opioid intake. In this effort, we first replicate previous studies using a well-established 4-day nicotine paradigm. Rats are pretreated with a low dose of nicotine (2 × , 30 µg/kg/0.1 mL, intravenous) or saline during early adolescence (postnatal days 28-31) or adulthood (postnatal days 86-89). Following nicotine pretreatment on postnatal day 32 or postnatal day 90, animals underwent operant intravenous self-administration for the psychostimulant, cocaine [500 µg/kg/infusion (inf)] or the opioid, fentanyl (2.5 µg/kg/inf). We successfully show that adolescent but not adult, nicotine exposure enhances cocaine self-administration in male rats. Furthermore, we illustrate early adolescent but not adult nicotine exposure enhances fentanyl self-administration, independent of sex. Overall, our findings highlight that adolescence is a unique period of development that is vulnerable to nicotine-induced enhancement for cocaine and fentanyl self-administration in rats.
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Cocaína/administración & dosificación , Fentanilo/administración & dosificación , Nicotina/farmacología , Autoadministración , Factores de Edad , Animales , Relación Dosis-Respuesta a Droga , Femenino , Masculino , Ratas , Ratas Sprague-Dawley , Factores SexualesRESUMEN
Despite persistent public health initiatives, many women continue to smoke during pregnancy. Since maternal smoking has been linked to persisting sex-dependent neurobehavioral deficits in offspring, some consider nicotine to be a safer alternative to tobacco during pregnancy, and the use of electronic nicotine delivery systems is on the rise. We presently show, however, that sustained exposure to low doses of nicotine during fetal development, approximating plasma levels seen clinically with the nicotine patch, produces substantial changes in developing corticostriatal dopamine systems in adolescence. Briefly, pregnant dams were implanted on gestational day 4 with an osmotic minipump that delivered either saline (GS) or nicotine (3 mg/kg/day) (GN) for two weeks. At birth, pups were cross-fostered with treatment naïve dams and were handled daily. Biochemical analyses, signaling assays, and behavioral responses to cocaine were assessed on postnatal day 32, representative of adolescence in the rodent. GN treatment had both sex-dependent and sex-independent effects on prefrontal dopamine systems, altering Catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT)-dependent dopamine turnover in males and norepinephrine transporter (NET) binding expression in both sexes. GN enhanced cocaine-induced locomotor activity in females, concomitant with GN-induced reductions in striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) binding. GN enhanced ventral striatal D2-like receptor expression and G-protein coupling, while altering the roles of D2 and D3 receptors in cocaine-induced behaviors. These data show that low-dose prenatal nicotine treatment sex-dependently alters corticostriatal dopamine system development, which may underlie clinical deficits seen in adolescents exposed to tobacco or nicotine in utero.
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Catecol O-Metiltransferasa/metabolismo , Cocaína/farmacología , Dopamina/metabolismo , Nicotina/farmacología , Factores Sexuales , Animales , Animales Recién Nacidos , Cuerpo Estriado/efectos de los fármacos , Cuerpo Estriado/metabolismo , Femenino , Locomoción/efectos de los fármacos , Masculino , Agonistas Nicotínicos/farmacología , Embarazo , Efectos Tardíos de la Exposición Prenatal , Ratas , Ratas Sprague-Dawley , Vasoconstrictores/farmacologíaRESUMEN
Background: Clinical trials of therapies directed against nodes of the signaling axis of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in glioblastoma (GBM) have had disappointing results. Resistance to mTOR inhibitors limits their efficacy. Methods: To determine mechanisms of resistance to chronic mTOR inhibition, we performed tandem screens on patient-derived GBM cultures. Results: An unbiased phosphoproteomic screen quantified phosphorylation changes associated with chronic exposure to the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin, and our analysis implicated a role for glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)3B attenuation in mediating resistance that was confirmed by functional studies. A targeted short hairpin RNA screen and further functional studies both in vitro and in vivo demonstrated that microtubule-associated protein (MAP)1B, previously associated predominantly with neurons, is a downstream effector of GSK3B-mediated resistance. Furthermore, we provide evidence that chronic rapamycin induces microtubule stability in a MAP1B-dependent manner in GBM cells. Additional experiments explicate a signaling pathway wherein combinatorial extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/mTOR targeting abrogates inhibitory phosphorylation of GSK3B, leads to phosphorylation of MAP1B, and confers sensitization. Conclusions: These data portray a compensatory molecular signaling network that imparts resistance to chronic mTOR inhibition in primary, human GBM cell cultures and points toward new therapeutic strategies.
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Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica/efectos de los fármacos , Glioblastoma/patología , Proteínas Asociadas a Microtúbulos/metabolismo , ARN Interferente Pequeño/genética , Sirolimus/farmacología , Serina-Treonina Quinasas TOR/metabolismo , Animales , Antibióticos Antineoplásicos/farmacología , Apoptosis , Biomarcadores de Tumor/genética , Biomarcadores de Tumor/metabolismo , Proliferación Celular , Quinasas MAP Reguladas por Señal Extracelular/antagonistas & inhibidores , Quinasas MAP Reguladas por Señal Extracelular/genética , Quinasas MAP Reguladas por Señal Extracelular/metabolismo , Glioblastoma/tratamiento farmacológico , Glioblastoma/genética , Glucógeno Sintasa Quinasa 3 beta/antagonistas & inhibidores , Glucógeno Sintasa Quinasa 3 beta/genética , Glucógeno Sintasa Quinasa 3 beta/metabolismo , Humanos , Masculino , Ratones , Ratones Endogámicos NOD , Ratones SCID , Proteínas Asociadas a Microtúbulos/antagonistas & inhibidores , Proteínas Asociadas a Microtúbulos/genética , Fosfatidilinositol 3-Quinasas/genética , Fosfatidilinositol 3-Quinasas/metabolismo , Inhibidores de las Quinasa Fosfoinosítidos-3 , Fosforilación , Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-akt/antagonistas & inhibidores , Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-akt/genética , Proteínas Proto-Oncogénicas c-akt/metabolismo , Transducción de Señal , Serina-Treonina Quinasas TOR/antagonistas & inhibidores , Serina-Treonina Quinasas TOR/genética , Células Tumorales Cultivadas , Ensayos Antitumor por Modelo de XenoinjertoRESUMEN
Disease relapse remains the major clinical challenge in treating T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), particularly those with PTEN loss. We hypothesized that leukemia-initiating cells (LIC) are responsible for T-ALL development and treatment relapse. In this study, we used a genetically engineered mouse model of Pten(-/-) T-ALL with defined blast and LIC-enriched cell populations to demonstrate that LICs are responsible for therapeutic resistance. Unlike acute and chronic myelogenous leukemia, LICs in T-ALL were actively cycling, were distinct biologically, and responded differently to targeted therapies in comparison with their differentiated blast cell progeny. Notably, we found that T-ALL LICs could be eliminated by cotargeting the deregulated pathways driven by PI3K and Myc, which are altered commonly in human T-ALL and are associated with LIC formation. Our findings define critical events that may be targeted to eliminate LICs in T-ALL as a new strategy to treat the most aggressive relapsed forms of this disease.