Cocaine has some effect on neuromedin U expressing neurons related to the brain reward system
Cocaine has some effect on neuromedin U expressing neurons related to the brain reward system
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DOI：
10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03947
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发表时间：
2020-05-01
期刊：
影响因子：
4
通讯作者：
Hanada, Reiko
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Anan, Madoka;Higa, Ryoko;Hanada, Reiko
神经肽U （Neuromedin U， NMU）是一种生物活性神经肽，高度分布于胃肠道和中枢神经系统。NMU具有与摄食行为、能量代谢、应激反应、昼夜节律和炎症有关的多种生理功能。最近，一些研究报告表明，NMU中枢系统在大脑的奖励系统中起着重要作用。然而，潜在的分子机制尚未完全确定。在本研究中，我们发现一些可卡因诱导的c-Fos免疫反应细胞与NMU共定位于野生型小鼠的伏隔核（NAc）、尾状壳核（CPu）和基底外侧杏仁核（BLA），这些区域是与大脑奖励系统相关的关键脑区。然而，可卡因治疗不影响NMU或NMU受体mRNA在这些脑区域的表达动力学，并且NMU敲除小鼠与对照小鼠相比，没有表现出对可卡因的更高偏好。这些结果表明，可卡因对NMU表达的与大脑奖赏系统相关的神经元有一定影响，提示NMU系统可能对可卡因激活的大脑奖赏系统有一定作用。
Neuromedin U (NMU) is a bioactive neuropeptide, highly distributed in the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system. NMU has various physiological functions related to feeding behavior, energy metabolism, stress responses, circadian rhythmicity and inflammation. Recently, several reports indicate that the central NMU system plays an important role in the reward systems in the brain. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are not yet fully defined. In this study, we found that some of cocaine-induced c-Fos immunoreactive cells were co-localized with NMU in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), caudate putamen (CPu), and basolateral amygdala (BLA), which are key brain regions associated with the brain reward system, in wild type mice. Whereas, a treatment with cocaine did not influence the kinetics of NMU or NMU receptors mRNA expression in these brain regions, and NMU-knockout mice did not show any higher preference for cocaine compared with their control mice. These results indicate that cocaine has some effect on NMU expressing neurons related to the brain reward system, and this suggests NMU system may have a role on the brain reward systems activated by cocaine.