Heavy alcohol drinking and repeated withdrawals are associated with increased relapse and allostatic adaptations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Excessive alcohol intake is also associated with perturbations in cortico-limbic-HPA function that may contribute to alcohol dependence and high rates of relapse. Our preliminary evidence suggests that a critical modulator of high rates of voluntary drinking in alcohol-dependent mice is the small-conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channels. SK channels in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) regulate NMDA receptor-dependent calcium influx, intrinsic excitability, and basal firing rates. Results from our preliminary studies demonstrate that SK channel expression is significantly reduced in mPFC and NAc in C57BL/6J mice following chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) exposure or prolonged stress. Moreover, microinjection studies show that blocking SK channel activity in NAc enhances voluntary consumption in control, but not alcohol-dependent mice. These data suggest that the down-regulation of SK channels observed following CIE is critically involved in the escalation of drinking in CIE exposed mice. Thus, the overarching hypothesis of this proposal is that CIE increases the excitation at glutamatergic synapses through a combination of increased NMDA receptors and a decrease in SK channel activity in key brain regions that control drinking. These studies will test the hypotheses that: 1) chronic ethanol exposure and stress alter glutamatergic synapses, 2) divergent drinking patterns in genetically modified mice are linked to alterations in SK channel expression, and 3) SK channels in mPFC and NAc regulate escalation of drinking in CIE exposed mice. We expect that data collected from these studies will advance our understanding of synaptic plasticity in key brain regions involved in alcohol seeking behaviors and will validate the hypothesis that SK channels are an important new therapeutic target for the treatment of alcohol dependence.

Public Health Relevance

The results from these studies will provide insight into changes in key brain regions involved in alcohol abuse and dependence. In addition, these studies may identify a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of alcoholism.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Type
Research Project--Cooperative Agreements (U01)
Project #
5U01AA020930-02
Application #
8424260
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZAA1-DD (51))
Program Officer
Cui, Changhai
Project Start
2012-02-10
Project End
2017-01-31
Budget Start
2013-02-01
Budget End
2014-01-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2013
Total Cost
$170,823
Indirect Cost
$55,011
Name
Medical University of South Carolina
Department
Neurosciences
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
183710748
City
Charleston
State
SC
Country
United States
Zip Code
29425
McGuier, Natalie S; Rinker, Jennifer A; Cannady, Reginald et al. (2018) Identification and validation of midbrain Kcnq4 regulation of heavy alcohol consumption in rodents. Neuropharmacology 138:10-19
Cannady, Reginald; Rinker, Jennifer A; Nimitvilai, Sudarat et al. (2018) Chronic Alcohol, Intrinsic Excitability, and Potassium Channels: Neuroadaptations and Drinking Behavior. Handb Exp Pharmacol 248:311
Xu, Wei; Li, Haoyang; Wang, Qian et al. (2017) Advancements in Developing Strategies for Sterilizing and Functional HIV Cures. Biomed Res Int 2017:6096134
Yu, Yufeng; Deng, Yong-Qiang; Zou, Peng et al. (2017) A peptide-based viral inactivator inhibits Zika virus infection in pregnant mice and fetuses. Nat Commun 8:15672
Wang, Qian; Dai, Yanyan; Sun, Zhiwu et al. (2017) HIV-1 Env DNA prime plus gp120 and gp70-V1V2 boosts induce high level of V1V2-specific IgG and ADCC responses and low level of Env-specific IgA response: implication for improving RV144 vaccine regimen. Emerg Microbes Infect 6:e102
Nimitvilai, Sudarat; Uys, Joachim D; Woodward, John J et al. (2017) Orbitofrontal Neuroadaptations and Cross-Species Synaptic Biomarkers in Heavy-Drinking Macaques. J Neurosci 37:3646-3660
Rinker, Jennifer A; Fulmer, Diana B; Trantham-Davidson, Heather et al. (2017) Differential potassium channel gene regulation in BXD mice reveals novel targets for pharmacogenetic therapies to reduce heavy alcohol drinking. Alcohol 58:33-45
Qi, Qianqian; Wang, Qian; Chen, Weizao et al. (2017) HIV-1 gp41-targeting fusion inhibitory peptides enhance the gp120-targeting protein-mediated inactivation of HIV-1 virions. Emerg Microbes Infect 6:e59
Rinker, Jennifer A; Mulholland, Patrick J (2017) Promising pharmacogenetic targets for treating alcohol use disorder: evidence from preclinical models. Pharmacogenomics 18:555-570
Cannady, Reginald; McGonigal, Justin T; Newsom, Ryan J et al. (2017) Prefrontal Cortex KCa2 Channels Regulate mGlu5-Dependent Plasticity and Extinction of Alcohol-Seeking Behavior. J Neurosci 37:4359-4369

Showing the most recent 10 out of 27 publications