HDAC5 and Its Target Gene, Npas4, Function in the Nucleus Accumbens to Regulate Cocaine-Conditioned Behaviors. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Individuals suffering from substance-use disorders develop strong associations between the drug's rewarding effects and environmental cues, creating powerful, enduring triggers for relapse. We found that dephosphorylated, nuclear histone deacetylase 5 (HDAC5) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) reduced cocaine reward-context associations and relapse-like behaviors in a cocaine self-administration model. We also discovered that HDAC5 associates with an activity-sensitive enhancer of the Npas4 gene and negatively regulates NPAS4 expression. Exposure to cocaine and the test chamber induced rapid and transient NPAS4 expression in a small subpopulation of FOS-positive neurons in the NAc. Conditional deletion of Npas4 in the NAc significantly reduced cocaine conditioned place preference and delayed learning of the drug-reinforced action during cocaine self-administration, without affecting cue-induced reinstatement of drug seeking. These data suggest that HDAC5 and NPAS4 in the NAc are critically involved in reward-relevant learning and memory processes and that nuclear HDAC5 limits reinstatement of drug seeking independent of NPAS4.

published proceedings

  • Neuron

altmetric score

  • 85.58

author list (cited authors)

  • Taniguchi, M., Carreira, M. B., Cooper, Y. A., Bobadilla, A., Heinsbroek, J. A., Koike, N., ... Cowan, C. W.

citation count

  • 74

complete list of authors

  • Taniguchi, Makoto||Carreira, Maria B||Cooper, Yonatan A||Bobadilla, Ana-Clara||Heinsbroek, Jasper A||Koike, Nobuya||Larson, Erin B||Balmuth, Evan A||Hughes, Brandon W||Penrod, Rachel D||Kumar, Jaswinder||Smith, Laura N||Guzman, Daniel||Takahashi, Joseph S||Kim, Tae-Kyung||Kalivas, Peter W||Self, David W||Lin, Yingxi||Cowan, Christopher W

publication date

  • September 2017

published in