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Abstinence from cocaine‐self‐administration activates the nELAV/GA P ‐43 pathway in the hippocampus: A stress‐related effect?
Author(s) -
Pascale Alessia,
Osera Cecilia,
Moro Federico,
Di Clemente Angelo,
Giannotti Giuseppe,
Caffino Lucia,
Govoni Stefano,
Fumagalli Fabio,
Cervo Luigi
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
hippocampus
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.767
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1098-1063
pISSN - 1050-9631
DOI - 10.1002/hipo.22572
Subject(s) - abstinence , self administration , hippocampal formation , hippocampus , psychology , gap 43 protein , neuroscience , pharmacology , medicine , psychiatry , immunohistochemistry
We previously demonstrated that nELAV/GAP‐43 pathway is pivotal for learning and its hippocampal expression is up‐regulated by acute stress following repeated cocaine administration. We therefore hypothesized that abstinence‐induced stress may sustain nELAV/GAP‐43 pathway during early abstinence following 2 weeks of cocaine self‐administration. We found that contingent, but not non‐contingent, cocaine exposure selectively increases hippocampal nELAV, but not GAP‐43, expression immediately after the last self‐administration session, an effect that wanes after 24 h and that comes back 7 days later when nELAV activation becomes associated with increased expression of GAP‐43, an effect again observed only in animals self‐administering the psychostimulant. Such effect is specific for nELAV since the ubiquitous ELAV/HuR is unchanged. This nELAV profile suggests that its initial transient alteration is perhaps related to the daily administration of cocaine, while the increase in the nELAV/GAP‐43 pathway following a week of abstinence may reflect the activation of this cascade as a target of stressful conditions associated with drug‐related memories. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.