Viral-Mediated GDNF Expression and Cocaine Addiction

描述(申请人提供)：可卡因会产生许多医疗和精神并发症，它的使用是美国与毒品有关的死亡的主要原因。尽管在药物和其他干预方面花费了大量的努力，但对可卡因依赖的治疗选择很少。神经营养因子参与了成人中枢神经系统的活动依赖性可塑性，包括对滥用药物的适应性反应。已经产生了具有挑衅性的数据，表明胶质细胞系衍生神经营养因子(GDNF)参与了这些适应性反应。GDNF对中枢多巴胺能系统有明显的影响，可卡因成瘾与大脑GDNF水平的降低有关。持续提高特定脑靶部位GDNF水平的一种方法是使用基因疗法。目前的基因治疗载体允许GDNF在选定的靶点长期表达。探索/发展研究资助(R21)申请的总体目标是利用可诱导的腺病毒载体在大鼠脑内表达GDNF基因，并确定其治疗可卡因成瘾的疗效。第一个特定目标将检验这样一个假设，即增加伏隔核中GDNF的表达将减少可卡因的增强效应。我们将确定GDNF高表达对可卡因自身给药的影响是否长期存在，并通过评估可卡因的运动效应和食物强化行为是否也受到影响来确定其特异性。第二个特定目的将表征病毒介导的GDNF表达对多巴胺能神经传递标志物的影响，以开始阐明GDNF降低可卡因增强特性的机制。拟议的实验结果将确立概念和可行性的证明，并将为我们设计和开展更全面的研究奠定基础，以表征载体传递的GDNF对药物自我给药的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cocaine produces many medical and psychiatric complications, and its use is the major cause of drug-related deaths in the United States. Although a tremendous amount of effort has been spent on pharmacologic and other interventions, few treatment options exist for cocaine dependence. Neurotrophic factors have been implicated in activity-dependent plasticity in the adult central nervous system, including the adaptational responses to drugs of abuse. Provocative data have been generated showing the involvement of glial cell line- derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) in these adaptive responses. GDNF has pronounced effects on central dopaminergic systems, and cocaine addiction is associated with decreases in brain levels of GDNF. One approach to increase GDNF levels at specific brain target sites in a sustained manner is by the use of gene therapy. Current gene therapy vectors allow the long-term expression of GDNF at selected target sites. The overall goal of this application for an Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant (R21) is to express GDNF genes in rat brain using an inducible adenovirus vector, and to determine its therapeutic efficacy in treating cocaine addiction. The first specific aim will test the hypothesis that increasing the expression of GDNF in the nucleus accumbens will reduce the reinforcing effects of cocaine. We will determine if the effects of GDNF hyper-expression on cocaine self-administration are long-lasting, and ascertain the specificity by evaluating whether the motoric effects of cocaine and food-reinforced behavior also are affected. The second specific aim will characterize the effects of viral-mediated GDNF expression on markers of dopaminergic neurotransmission in order to begin to elucidate the mechanisms by which GDNF decreases the reinforcing properties of cocaine. The results of the proposed experiments will establish proof of concept and feasibility and will build the foundation that will allow us to design and carry-out more comprehensive studies characterizing the effects of vector-delivered GDNF on drug self-administration.