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    Home > Biochemistry News > Biotechnology News > Key mechanisms of cocaine addiction.

    Key mechanisms of cocaine addiction.

    • Last Update: 2020-09-13
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    Do you know what the world's most addictive substances are? Heroin, cocaine, nicotine, barbitotics and alcohol are some of the most addictive drugs.
    once they enter the brain, they stimulate dopamine, which stimulates the brain's excitement and pleasure through reward loops, making people addicted to it.
    , scientists believe that addiction is a genetic and biochemical problem, in addition to willpower and judgment.
    to address the root causes of addiction and free addicts, we need to know how these substances work in the brain.
    recently, PNAS and Nature have published articles revealing the latest findings in this field.
    scientists explored the key mechanisms of cocaine addiction by building mutant mice.
    Nature Neuroscience: Cocaine, a mutant mouse that is not addictive to cocaine, is one of the most addictive substances known to interfere directly with the delivery of dopamine in the brain's neurons, stimulates the cerebral cortical layer by regulating dopamine levels, and produces excitement and pleasure.
    cocaine was used as a medical anaesthetic, but was listed as a major drug because it strongly stimulated the nerve center to excite it.
    team from the University of British Columbia used genetic engineering to develop a special mutant mouse: they were not addicted to cocaine.
    note that the expression of cadherin in the brains of these mutant mice was higher than in wild mice.
    adhesion protein and brain reward circuit Calcium adhesion protein to participate in cell binding, communication.
    in the brain helps to enhance synapse function between neurons.
    synapses are the key structures for communication between neurons and are responsible for all reflexive activities of the central nervous system, including breathing, walking, learning, memory, and so on.
    when addictive substances such as alcohol, nicotine and cocaine enter the brain, they stimulate reward circuits by regulating dopamine concentrations, which stimulates the brain to be excited and happy.
    reward circuit is rooted in a complex network of mid-brain brains that process information related to addictive behavior.
    addictive drugs stimulate the expression and secretion of dopamine, resulting in pleasure and memory.
    , high expression of calcium-adhesive protein enhances synapses, which enhance signaling and stimulate the brain's reward circuits to form deep memories.
    , Shernaz Bamji, a team leader and professor in the Department of Cell and Physiology, believes that over-expression of calcium stick protein in the reward circuit makes mice more susceptible to cocaine addiction.
    counterproductive: Mutant mice were "unsymons" about cocaine, but a series of studies have reminded Professor Bamji that the initial speculation is counterproductive.
    team designed a special culture room with three compartments and only one cubicle containing cocaine.
    after they injected the mice with cocaine for some time, they put them in the culture room to verify the mice's addiction to cocaine.
    found that wild mice almost always chose to place compartments with cocaine, while mutant mice (calcium-stick protein over-expression) did not show this tendency.
    means that mutant mice do not have strong memories of cocaine.
    to find out why, Professor Bamji led a team that analyzed brain tissue in mutant mice.
    they found that over-expressed calcium-sticking proteins prevent a neuropolyser from migrating from inside the cell to the synapse surface.
    the synapse surface is missing the recipient, neurons will not be able to receive signals from nearby neurons.
    , synapses are not enhanced and naturally do not leave deep happy memories.
    and graduate student Andrea Globa, concluded: "By suppressing synactal reinforcement, we weakened the memory of cocaine in mice, thereby preventing them from became addicted.
    " New study could help explain previous studies that drug addicts tend to carry many mutations associated with calcium-adhesive protein.
    analysis of the biological mechanisms of addiction can help predict which groups of people are more likely to become addicted to drugs, thus intervening early or having targeted treatments.
    PNAS: How does cocaine affect the brain and imprint addiction?For the first time, the Mouse Greengard laboratory, a professor at Rockefeller University and a Nobel Laureate, modeled mice, to confirm the mechanism by which the WAVE1 protein regulates the brain's response to cocaine.
    high expression of the WAVE1 protein, stimulating the brain reward loop WAVE1 is a key protein involved in cell signal transduction.
    previous studies have shown a link between the protein and dopamine.
    but scientists don't know how cocaine affects the WAVE1 protein, or how the WAVE1 protein responds to cocaine.
    Team found that wave1 protein was abnormally active in the brains of cocaine-addicted mice.
    , the effects of cocaine on the WAVE1 protein can be stopped by blocking dopamine-like bodies.
    to study the interaction between the WAVE1 protein and dopamine, the team artificially inhibited the expression of the WAVE1 protein in nerve cells in mice (the nerve cell dopamine is a D1 subsype).
    found that mutant mice were less addicted to cocaine than wild mice.
    this means that the WAVE1 protein is not expressed, causing dopamine signaling to be blocked.
    , when the treated nerve cell dopamine is a D2 subtype, even if the WAVE1 protein is not expressed, it does not reduce the addictiveness of mutant mice to cocaine.
    scientists' ultimate goal is to find drugs to treat addiction.
    study analyzed the effects of cocaine on dopamine and neural circuits in the brain at the molecular level.
    do you treat drug addiction? Ideally, targeting key molecules blocks pleasant memories from addictive substances such as cocaine, while ensuring that other normal learning and memory functions are not interfered with.
    .
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