The functional significance of TrkB phosphorylation in the rat nucleus accumbens as a molecular switch of habit formation in drug addiction

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The phosphorylations of TrkB and ribosomal protein S6 that play crucial roles in activity-dependent protein synthesis contribute to neuronal plasticity and learning/memory. In this study, we examined the effect of cocaine challenge on the important phosphorylation sites of TrkB and rpS6 in the rat nucleus accumbens after repeated saline or cocaine administration. As for TrkB, two distinct phosphorylation sites, one is required for memory acquisition, the other is for memory consolidation, were investigated. Likewise, as for rpS6, two distinct phosphorylation sites, one is mTOR-dependent, other is mTOR-independent, were examined. As a result, we found that the pattern of phosphorylation at each site was so distinctively different between control and chronic-cocaine-treated rats. N-acetylcysteine, which is supposed to restore cocaine-seeking behaviors in rodents did not provide any effect on the phosphorylations in TrkB-mTOT pathway.