Neuropharmacology Core

项目总结-神经药理学核心 神经药理学核心是一个新的核心，旨在为NIH资助的研究人员提供服务， P30通过增加他们获得关键的神经化学和行为方法学的机会， to advancement进步of preclinical临床drug滥用research研究.这些方法将包括评估 组织匀浆和组织切片中受体的表达和功能，体内微透析 评估清醒和行为动物目标脑区神经递质水平的技术，以及 行为技术，以评估在不同的生理或 环境条件虽然这是一个新的核心，但调查人员在他们的研究中拥有数十年的专业知识。 各自的领域和相互之间以及与其他VCU调查人员的合作历史。 这一核心的基本原理是建立在这样一个命题上的，即滥用药物作用于分子靶点， 调节大脑奖励系统的活动并改变行为，临床前药物滥用研究受益于 协调调查药物的影响沿着整个连续体从分子到行为水平， 分析.然而，个别赠款通常侧重于这一连续性的一部分，往往缺乏资源， 快速、合理地将重要发现推广到其他相关研究领域。作为一个例子， 合成化学基金可能会发现一种新的分子实体，具有有希望的镇痛作用，但缺乏 用于该化合物的滥用倾向或作为治疗的潜在效用的临床前评估的资源 物质使用障碍另一个例子是，一项专注于治疗药物滥用的行为研究的拨款可能会 确定有效的药物治疗策略，但缺乏资源来调查潜在的候选机制， 药物疗效。神经药理学核心建议解决这些差距，并加强 在VCU药物滥用研究的广度和影响。受体表达和功能的研究（目的1）， 体内微透析（目标2）和奖励/强化的行为表达（目标3）将使研究人员 评估病理状态或急性/慢性药物治疗对神经系统和行为的影响 已知在药物滥用中重要的终点。

Project Summary – Neuropharmacology Core The Neuropharmacology Core is a new core that proposes to serve NIH-funded investigators affiliated with the P30 grant by increasing their access to key neurochemical and behavioral methodologies that are fundamental to advancement of preclinical drug abuse research. These methodologies will include techniques to assess expression and function of receptors in both tissue homogenates and tissue slices, in vivo microdialysis techniques to assess neurotransmitter levels in target brain areas in awake and behaving animals, and behavioral techniques to assess rewarding/reinforcing effects of drugs under different physiological or environmental conditions. Although this is a new core, the investigators have decades of expertise in their respective areas and a history of collaboration both with each other and with other VCU investigators. The rationale for this core is founded on the proposition that drugs of abuse act on molecular targets to modulate activity in brain reward systems and alter behavior, and preclinical drug abuse research benefits from coordinated investigation of drug effects along the entire continuum from molecular to behavioral levels of analysis. However, individual grants typically focus on a portion of this continuum and often lack resources for rapid and rational extension of important findings to other, related research domains. As one example, a synthetic chemistry grant might identify a new molecular entity with promising analgesic effects but lack resources for preclinical assessment of that compound's abuse liability or potential utility as a treatment for substance use disorders. As another example, a grant focused on behavioral studies to treat drug abuse might identify an effective medication strategy but lack resources to investigate candidate mechanisms that underlie medication efficacy. The Neuropharmacology Core proposes to address these gaps and strengthen the breadth and impact of drug abuse research at VCU. Studies of receptor expression and function (Aim 1), in vivo microdialysis (Aim 2), and behavioral expression of reward/reinforcement (Aim 3) will enable investigators to evaluate effects of pathological states or of acute/chronic drug treatments on neural systems and behavioral endpoints known to be important in drug abuse.