Effects of administration of cocaine in SIRT1 and SIRT2 levels in the nucleus accumbens of adolescent and adult mice

• Grant number: 12/11947-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): September 01, 2012
• Effective date (End): August 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Pharmacology - Neuropsychopharmacology
• Principal Investigator: Rosana Camarini
• Grantee: Gustavo Papaiordanou Elias
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The adolescence is a phase of transition from childhood to adulthood, characterized by behavioral changes, including elevations in novelty seeking and risk taking behaviors, and enhanced social interactions away from family environment. Adolescents show prominent changes in motivation and reward brain circuits, which make them more sensitive than adults to the action of various drugs and more prone to addiction. The incentive sensitization theory suggests that repeated exposure to drugs of potential abuse promotes sensitization of the mesocorticolimbic brain system, leading to the compulsive use of drugs and increasing the risk of relapse even after years of discontinuation of drug taking. Changes in gene expression contribute to the long-term regulation of brain reward circuits. Sirtuin proteins are class III NAD-dependent histone deacetylase family and can regulate the activity of a series of transcriptional factors. A recent study (Renthal et al., 2009) showed that the activity of these deacetylases in the nucleus accumbens may contribute to chronic neuroadaptation involved in cocaine addiction. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of cocaine administration in adolescents and adults mice in protein levels of sirtuins (SIRT1 and SIRT2) in the nucleus accumbens. (AU)