Cocaine continues to be a widely abused psychostimulant drug, yet no consistent treatment for cocaine addiction exists. One roadblock in the development of pharmacological treatments for drug addiction has been an incomplete understanding of the neuroadaptations that occur during the development of addiction. The transition in human cocaine users from a state of casual, occasional cocaine use to a state of addiction, including consistent drug-taking, has not been well characterized in animal models of drug use. Thus, we aim to identify the protein expression changes that occur during the acquisition of cocaine self-administration (SA) behavior in rats as a model of the neuroadaptations that occur in humans during the developmental history of addiction. We hypothesize that the neuroadaptations that occur during the acquisition of cocaine SA will differ from those that occur over the same time period of response-independent cocaine infusions or SA of a sucrose reinforcer. We will use two-dimensional gel electrophoresis to identify and microinfusion of inhibitors to manipulate the protein expression changes that correlate with the development of consistent drug-taking. ? ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Individual Predoctoral NRSA for M.D./Ph.D. Fellowships (ADAMHA) (F30)
Project #
5F30DA020314-02
Application #
7321664
Study Section
Human Development Research Subcommittee (NIDA)
Program Officer
Babecki, Beth
Project Start
2006-05-24
Project End
2011-11-23
Budget Start
2007-05-24
Budget End
2008-05-23
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2007
Total Cost
$36,816
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Texas Medical Br Galveston
Department
Pharmacology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
800771149
City
Galveston
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
77555
dela Cruz, Adriane M; Herin, David V; Grady, James J et al. (2009) Novel approach to data analysis in cocaine-conditioned place preference. Behav Pharmacol 20:720-30