Drugs of abuse gain control over behavior by usurping the activity of brain reward circuits. Thus, identifying behaviorally significant adaptations in these circuits is crucial for understanding the etiology and progression of alcohol addiction. Our preclinical research identified CaMKII?-AMPAR signaling as a novel target of moderate alcohol intake that also regulates the positive reinforcing effects of the drug in mice. This indicates that alcohol misappropriates molecular mechanisms of neuroplasticity within brain reward circuits. We propose that this maladaptive activity represents a molecular gateway from use to abuse, suggesting that the initial hit to this pathway is exacerbated during the development of dependence. We also showed that CaMKII signaling in the amygdala vs. mPFC differentially regulates alcohol self-administration. Since CaMKII is prominent in glutamate projection neurons, this suggests that excitatory efferents from these brain regions differentially regulate alcohol reinforcement. In this MERIT extension, we propose to move the field forward by testing the overall hypothesis that excitatory CaMKII?-positive corticolimbic circuits serve as functional units in the regulation of alcohol self-administration in a manner that is exacerbated by dependence. First, we will take a multidisciplinary approach to characterize the effects of initial alcohol use on activity of CaMKII?-dependent glutamate circuits (amygdala-to-accumbens and cortex-to-accumbens) and determine if alcohol-induced changes are exacerbated by dependence. These innovative discovery-based studies will inform subsequent goals of the project and move the field forward in our understanding of how alcohol dependence altered brain reward pathway function. Second, we will conduct mechanistic studies using optogenetic and pharmacological strategies to test the hypothesis that these neural circuits differentially regulate alcohol self-administraion during initial use and dependence. Overall, these innovative mechanistic studies will identify specific nuclei and circuits in which increased glutamate signaling contributes to escalated alcohol use in dependence; thus, identifying and validating novel mechanisms of a critical behavioral pathology that pervades the development and progression of alcohol addiction.

Public Health Relevance

Alcohol addiction is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder that contributes to serious physical, psychiatric, and social problems. Evidence indicates that alcohol causes maladaptive changes in brain regions, and neural circuits, that regulate the fundamental process of reward. The goal of this research is to increase understanding of how alcohol alters these critical brain and behavioral processes during initial use and how these changes carry forward in dependence.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Type
Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award (R37)
Project #
4R37AA014983-11
Application #
9237341
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (NSS)
Program Officer
Grakalic, Ivana
Project Start
2004-04-01
Project End
2021-06-30
Budget Start
2016-07-01
Budget End
2017-06-30
Support Year
11
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
608195277
City
Chapel Hill
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27599
Faccidomo, Sara; Swaim, Katarina S; Saunders, Briana L et al. (2018) Mining the nucleus accumbens proteome for novel targets of alcohol self-administration in male C57BL/6J mice. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 235:1681-1696
Cannady, Reginald; Fisher, Kristen R; Graham, Caitlin et al. (2017) Potentiation of amygdala AMPA receptor activity selectively promotes escalated alcohol self-administration in a CaMKII-dependent manner. Addict Biol 22:652-664
Salling, Michael C; Hodge, Christopher J; Psilos, Kelly E et al. (2017) Cue-induced reinstatement of alcohol-seeking behavior is associated with increased CaMKII T286 phosphorylation in the reward pathway of mice. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 163:20-29
Salling, Michael C; Faccidomo, Sara P; Li, Chia et al. (2016) Moderate Alcohol Drinking and the Amygdala Proteome: Identification and Validation of Calcium/Calmodulin Dependent Kinase II and AMPA Receptor Activity as Novel Molecular Mechanisms of the Positive Reinforcing Effects of Alcohol. Biol Psychiatry 79:430-42
Faccidomo, Sara; Reid, Grant T; Agoglia, Abigail E et al. (2016) CaMKII inhibition in the prefrontal cortex specifically increases the positive reinforcing effects of sweetened alcohol in C57BL/6J mice. Behav Brain Res 298:286-90
Agoglia, Abigail E; Holstein, Sarah E; Eastman, Vallari R et al. (2016) Cannabinoid CB1 receptor inhibition blunts adolescent-typical increased binge alcohol and sucrose consumption in male C57BL/6J mice. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 143:11-7
Agoglia, Abigail E; Sharko, Amanda C; Psilos, Kelly E et al. (2015) Alcohol alters the activation of ERK1/2, a functional regulator of binge alcohol drinking in adult C57BL/6J mice. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 39:463-75
Faccidomo, Sara; Salling, Michael C; Galunas, Christina et al. (2015) Operant ethanol self-administration increases extracellular-signal regulated protein kinase (ERK) phosphorylation in reward-related brain regions: selective regulation of positive reinforcement in the prefrontal cortex of C57BL/6J mice. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 232:3417-30
Agoglia, Abigail E; Holstein, Sarah E; Reid, Grant et al. (2015) CaMKII?-GluA1 Activity Underlies Vulnerability to Adolescent Binge Alcohol Drinking. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 39:1680-90
Cook, Jason B; Werner, David F; Maldonado-Devincci, Antoniette M et al. (2014) Overexpression of the steroidogenic enzyme cytochrome P450 side chain cleavage in the ventral tegmental area increases 3?,5?-THP and reduces long-term operant ethanol self-administration. J Neurosci 34:5824-34

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