奖赏刺激和伴药环境之间的强烈关联记忆,使得成瘾者在戒除药物数月或数年后暴露于类似环境即可诱发复吸。研究成瘾记忆的神经生物学基础有重要意义。本研究以可卡因条件位置偏爱(conditioned place preference,CPP)实验为行为学模型模拟分析药物与环境之间关联的建立。c-Fos、Zif268是常用的反映神经元活动增加的即早基因标记物。本文旨在通过采用免疫组织荧光染色方法,对可卡因环境相关的奖赏记忆提取后小鼠各脑区c-Fos、Zif268表达进行定量,比较分析它们的表达差异,以此来观察环境相关奖赏记忆提取时不同脑区神经元的激活情况。C57BL/6小鼠分为三组:生理盐水提取组、可卡因环境相关奖赏记忆提取组以及可卡因未提取组。后两组均接受CPP训练(一侧为伴可卡因侧,另一侧为伴生理盐水侧),训练结束后可卡因环境相关奖赏记忆提取组提取相关记忆,可卡因未提取组不提取。生理盐水提取组在放入CPP箱两侧前均腹腔注射生理盐水。结果显示,在药物成瘾相关脑区伏隔核核部,可卡因环境相关奖赏记忆提取组c-Fos、Zif268蛋白表达量显著高于生理盐水提取组。可卡因环境相关奖赏记忆提取组杏仁核基底外侧核Zif268蛋白表达量显著高于生理盐水提取组。在中脑边缘多巴胺系统的其他相关脑区如前额叶皮层、海马等,各组间c-Fos、Zif268蛋白表达量并未观察到明显的差异。以上结果表明伏隔核中央核和杏仁核基底外侧核在可卡因环境相关奖赏记忆提取过程中被激活,这提示伏隔核中央核和杏仁核基底外侧核脑区内激活的神经元是可卡因环境相关奖赏记忆的重要神经基础,为进一步解析药物成瘾记忆机制打下了基础。
In this study,we investigated the role ofβ-arrestin-2in alcohol preference using the two-bottle choice and conditioned place preference procedures in wild-type（WT）andβ-arrestin-2 knockout（KO）mice.Locomotion and righting reflex tests were performed to test alcohol sensitivity.The possible molecular signals regulated byβ-arrestin-2 were analyzed by Western blot.We found thatβ-arrestin-2 KO mice showed a marked increase in voluntary alcohol consumption without significant differences in preference for saccharin or aversion to quinine.These animals also exhibited higher conditioned place preference scores for alcohol than WT mice.Meanwhile,KO mice showed reduced sensitivity to alcohol and increased blood alcohol clearance.Furthermore,after the free consumption of alcohol,the activities of protein kinase B and glycogen synthase kinase 3β（GSK3β）increased in the dorsal striatum of WT mice,but not in KO mice,which showed high basal activity of Akt in the dorsal striatum.These results suggest thatβ-arrestin-2 negatively regulates alcohol preference and reward,likely through regulating the activation of signaling pathways including Akt/GSK3βin the dorsal striatum.
