| First Author | Lafragette A | Year | 2017 |
| Journal | Int J Neuropsychopharmacol | Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 237-246 |
| PubMed ID | 27815415 | Mgi Jnum | J:247532 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5927525 | Doi | 10.1093/ijnp/pyw097 |
| Citation | Lafragette A, et al. (2017) Reduction of Cocaine-Induced Locomotor Effects by Enriched Environment Is Associated with Cell-Specific Accumulation of DeltaFosB in Striatal and Cortical Subregions. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 20(3):237-246 |
| abstractText | Background: Early exposure to enriched environments has been shown to decrease the locomotor effects induced by repeated injections of cocaine and modify basal and cocaine-induced total protein levels of the transcription factor DeltaFosB in the whole striatum of mice. In this study, we aimed at characterizing whether the profile of DeltaFosB accumulation induced by enriched environments and cocaine would be similar or different in terms of brain areas and cell type. Methods: We used mice expressing the eGFP protein in D1 receptor positive (D1R(+)) neurons to determine whether Delta FosB induced by enriched environment or cocaine injections (5x15 mg/kg) would occur in selective subpopulations of neurons in several subregions of the striatum and prefrontal cortex. Results: We found that: (1) exposure to enriched environment reduces cocaine-induced locomotor activation, confirming our previous findings; (2) exposure to enriched environment by itself increases the accumulation of Delta FosB mostly in D1R(-) cells in the shell part of the nucleus accumbens and dorsal striatum, whereas in the nucleus accumbens core, Delta FosB accumulates in both D1R(+) and D1R(-) neurons; (3) in standard environment mice, cocaine induces accumulation of Delta FosB selectively in D1R(+) cells in the nucleus accumbens, dorsal striatum, and infralimbic cortex; and (4) the effects of enriched environments and cocaine on accumulation of Delta FosB were reciprocally blocked by their combination. Conclusions: Altogether, these results suggest that the enriched environment-induced reduction in behavioral effects of cocaine might result from 2 distinct effects on DeltaFosB in striatal medium-sized spiny neurons belonging to the direct and indirect pathways. |
