The central nervous system effects of many neruropharmaceuticals and in particular the action of addictive drugs is only partially understood. We propose to develop a system that uses the acute behavioral responses of Drosophila to study addictive drugs, specifically """"""""crack"""""""" cocaine. Acute behavioral responses to cocaine in flies have similarities to those in vertebrates. We have a behavioral assay for rapid assessment of acute sensitivity to vaporized free base cocaine. Drosophila has a highly developed genetic system which provides many tools that make facile a forward genetic screen for altered sensitivity to drug responses.
The aims of this proposal are: 1) to isolate mutants that respond abnormally to the acute stimulant properties of cocaine; 2) to develop secondary assays that refine our selection of mutants to those most pertinent to the stimulant- induced effects of cocaine; 3) to clone and characterize genes that modulate these behavioral responses in flies. Our genetic analysis should yield tools for the study of the molecular and biochemical mechanisms that underlie stimulant induced responses.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Clinical Investigator Award (CIA) (K08)
Project #
5K08DA000481-05
Application #
6805280
Study Section
Human Development Research Subcommittee (NIDA)
Program Officer
Rutter, Joni
Project Start
2000-09-20
Project End
2006-02-28
Budget Start
2004-09-01
Budget End
2006-02-28
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$167,724
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California San Francisco
Department
Anesthesiology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
094878337
City
San Francisco
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94143
DeSalvo, Michael K; Mayer, Nasima; Mayer, Fahima et al. (2011) Physiologic and anatomic characterization of the brain surface glia barrier of Drosophila. Glia 59:1322-40
Mayer, Fahima; Mayer, Nasima; Chinn, Leslie et al. (2009) Evolutionary conservation of vertebrate blood-brain barrier chemoprotective mechanisms in Drosophila. J Neurosci 29:3538-50
Kunwar, Prabhat S; Starz-Gaiano, Michelle; Bainton, Roland J et al. (2003) Tre1, a G protein-coupled receptor, directs transepithelial migration of Drosophila germ cells. PLoS Biol 1:E80