Hot Off the Press – January 30, 2024 Published in JAMA Network Open by Annika Quam and Amy Janes et al. from the NIDA IRP Cognitive and Pharmacological Neuroimaging Unit. Summary As a primary cause of preventable death, nicotine dependence remains a significant public health concern. While there are several medications that help people quit… [Read More]
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Modeling methamphetamine use disorder and relapse in animals: Short- and long-term epigenetic, transcriptional., and biochemical consequences in the rat brain
Reviews To Read – January 2024. Published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews by Khalid Elhadi, Atul P. Daiwile, and Jean Lud Cadet of the NIDA IRP Molecular Neuropsychiatry Research Section. Methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) is very widespread in the world because methamphetamine is easy to make and cheap to buy. Heavy users usually take the drug… [Read More]
Technology Development Initiative – Paper of the Month – January 2024
Using a novel rapid alternating steering angles pulse sequence to evaluate the impact of theranostic ultrasound-mediated ultra-short pulse length on blood-brain barrier opening volume and closure, cavitation mapping, drug delivery feasibility, and safety Theranostics.
The current study from the Konofagou lab describes an advancement in FUS delivery parameters and instrumentation that allows the simultaneous opening and monitoring of BBB in two brain regions simultaneously. This preclinical study highlights new developments in FUS that expand its capabilities for safe, non-invasive gene and drug delivery to the brain for the potential treatment of neurological diseases. FUS may be a useful tool for evaluating therapeutics for substance use disorder.
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Anterior hypothalamic parvalbumin neurons are glutamatergic and promote escape behavior
Featured Paper of the Month – January 2024
Published in Current Biology by Brenton Laing and Yeka Aponte, et al. of the NIDA IRP Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section.
Using techniques including in vivo functional imaging, behavioral paradigms, and neuronal tracing, Laing et al. investigated a small population of parvalbumin neurons in the anterior hypothalamic area (AHAPV).
Technology Development Initiative – Paper of the Month – December 2023
Complete biosynthesis of cannabinoids and their unnatural analogues in yeast. Nature
The study and medicinal use of cannabinoids has been hampered by the legal scheduling of Cannabis, the low in planta abundances of nearly all of the dozens of known cannabinoids, and their structural complexity, which limits bulk chemical synthesis. Here we report the complete biosynthesis of the major cannabinoids cannabigerolic acid, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, cannabidiolic acid, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarinic acid and cannabidivarinic acid in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, from the simple sugar galactose. Furthermore, we established a biosynthetic approach that harnessed the promiscuity of several pathway genes to produce cannabinoid analogues. Feeding different fatty acids to our engineered strains yielded cannabinoid analogues with modifications in the part of the molecule that is known to alter receptor binding affinity and potency [Read More]
Pharmacological and Physicochemical Properties Optimization for Dual-Target Dopamine D3 (D3R) and μ-Opioid (MOR) Receptor Ligands as Potentially Safer Analgesics.
Featured Paper of the Month – December 2023
Published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry by Alessandro Bonifazi , Lily Saab and Amy Hauck Newman of the NIDA IRP Medicinal Chemistry Section.
The Newman Lab published a new generation of dual-target mu opioid receptor (MOR) agonists/dopamine D3 receptor (D3R) antagonists/partial agonists as potentially safer analgesics.
Technology Development Initiative – Paper of the Month – November 2023
The acceptability of overdose alert and response technologies: introducing the TPOM-ODART framework. Harm Reduct J
A TPOM-ODART framework, a model of overdose alert and response technologies (ODART) based on the existing health information technology TPOM dataset, was developed to better understand factors involved in harm reduction technology acceptability to people who use opioids (PWUO). Concerns of trust, readiness, accessibility, and capacity were found to be key factors in engaging and retaining PWUO in ODRAT interventions. [Read More]
Interactions of calmodulin kinase II with the dopamine transporter facilitate cocaine-induced enhancement of evoked dopamine release
Featured Paper of the Month – November 2023
Published in Translational Psychiatry by Jacqueline Keighron and Gianluigi Tanda, et al. of the NIDA IRP Medication Development Program.
In this study, we show that pretreatments with an inhibitor of CaMKIIα, a kinase that interacts with DAT and regulates synapsin phosphorylation and mobilization of reserve pools of DA vesicles, blunted the effects of cocaine on evoked DA release without affecting cocaine inhibition of DA reuptake.
Lateral preoptic area glutamate neurons relay nociceptive information to the ventral tegmental area
Hot Off the Press – October 24, 2023 Published in Cell Reports by David Barker, Shiliang Zhang and Marisela Morales et al. from the NIDA IRP. Summary The ventral tegmental area (VTA) has been proposed to play a role in pain, but the brain structures modulating VTA activity in response to painful stimuli remain unclear…. [Read More]
Technology Development Initiative – Paper of the Month – October 2023
Sensitive multicolor indicators for monitoring norepinephrine in vivo. Nat Methods.
Existing GPCR-based Norepinephrine sensors are based on alpha-2a adrenergic receptors and do not exhibit the kinetic properties needed to investigate in vivo NE dynamics in response to different drugs. Kagiampaki et al. developed a new set of fluorescent indicators based on the alpha-1a adrenergic receptors. The nLight sensors combined with fiber photometry and two-photon imaging could be used to investigate spatial and temporal aspects of Norepinephrine signaling in animal models of substance use disorder. [Read More]
