Title : Silencing microRNA 134 in ventral hippocampus attenuates anxiety like and depressionlike behaviors in cocaine extinction mice
Abstract:
MicroRNA-134 (miR-134) is abundantly expressed in the hippocampus and play important roles in the process of brain development and neuropsychiatric disorders. The present study aims to explore whether miR-134 involves in cocaine exposure related psychiatric disorders and the mechanisms by which miR-134 influence addiction. In models of cocaine conditioned place preference (CPP), we found an enhanced anxiety and depression levels in cocaine extinction mice, accompanied by a significant upregulation of miR-134 level specifically in the ventral hippocampus (vHP). In parallel, some potential target genes of miR-134 related synaptic plasticity and neurochemical environment, including BDNF and CREB are markedly reduced in the vHP. As expected, synaptic plasticity and microenvironment were impaired by cocaine addiction. Most importantly, local silencing miR-134 in the vHP ameliorated the abnormal behaviors and reversed almost all the above changes in molecules induced by cocaine extinction in the vHP. Thus, miR-134 signaling pathway might become a promising therapeutic target for treatment of addiction.
