Cocaine treatment increases expression of a 40 kDa catecholamine‐regulated protein in discrete brain regions
- 30 October 2002
- Vol. 47 (1), 33-44
- https://doi.org/10.1002/syn.10140
Abstract
Previous reports from our laboratory have described brain-specific catecholamine-regulated proteins, which bind dopamine and related catecholamines. Evidence from the molecular cloning of a 40 kDa catecholamine-regulated protein (CRP40) revealed that CRP40 is dopamine-inducible and has properties similar to those of the 70 kDa heat shock protein (HSP70) family. The present study investigates the effects of acute and chronic cocaine treatment on CRP40 expression in the striatum, nucleus accumbens, prefrontal cortex, and medulla. Acute treatment with cocaine increased CRP40 expression in the nucleus accumbens and striatum, whereas chronic treatment with cocaine increased CRP40 expression in the nucleus accumbens only. Neither of these treatments affected CRP40 levels in the prefrontal cortex or medulla. In addition, pretreatment with the spin-trapping agent α-phenyl-tert-butylnitrone did not attenuate cocaine-induced expression of CRP40, suggesting that the observed increases in CRP40 levels were not caused by free radicals. On the other hand, pretreatment with anisomycin, a protein synthesis inhibitor, blocked the cocaine-induced expression of CRP40. Thus, protein synthesis may be involved in the observed CRP40 level increases. Furthermore, neither acute nor chronic cocaine treatment affected levels of inducible or constitutively expressed HSP70, which indicates a specificity of cocaine's effects on CRP40. Since cocaine has been shown to increase extracellular dopamine levels, these findings suggest that increased expression of CRP40 is associated with high extracellular levels of dopamine (or its metabolites). Elevated levels of CRP40 could play a protective role for dopamine neurons in response to increased oxidative stress that has been shown to be induced by cocaine and that can lead to apoptosis and neurodegeneration. Synapse 47:33–44, 2003.Keywords
This publication has 45 references indexed in Scilit:
- Lounging in a lysosome: the intracellular lifestyle of Coxiella burnetiiCellular Microbiology, 2007
- Melatonin attenuates methamphetamine-induced toxic effects on dopamine and serotonin terminals in mouse brainSynapse, 1998
- Covalent Affinity Labeling of Brain Catecholamine‐Absorbing Proteins Using a High‐Specific‐Activity Substituted TetrahydronaphthaleneJournal of Neurochemistry, 1995
- Robustness of G protein changes in cocaine sensitization shown with immunoblottingSynapse, 1993
- Neurobiology of cocaine abuseTrends in Pharmacological Sciences, 1992
- Correlation between behavioral sensitization to cocaine and G protein ADP-ribosylation in the ventral tegmental areaBrain Research, 1992
- Drugs of abuse: anatomy, pharmacology and function of reward pathwaysTrends in Pharmacological Sciences, 1992
- HPLC procedure for the pharmacokinetic study of the spin-trapping agent, α-phenyl-N-tert-butyl nitrone (PBN)Free Radical Biology & Medicine, 1990
- A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye bindingAnalytical Biochemistry, 1976
- Cleavage of Structural Proteins during the Assembly of the Head of Bacteriophage T4Nature, 1970