Elevations in estrogen (17b-estradiol, E2) are associated with increased alcohol drinking by women and experimentally in rodents. E2 alters the activity of the dopamine system, including the VTA and its projection targets, which plays an important role in binge drinking. A previous study demonstrated that, during high E2 states, VTA neurons in female mice are more sensitive to ethanol excitation. However, the mechanisms responsible for the ability of E2 to enhance ethanol sensitivity of VTA neurons have not been investigated. In this study, we used selective agonists and antagonists to examine the role of ER subtypes (ERa and ERb) in regulating the ethanol sensitivity of VTA neurons in female mice and found that ERa promotes the enhanced ethanol response of VTA neurons. We also demonstrated that enhancement of ethanol excitation requires the activity of the metabotropic glutamate receptor, mGluR1, which is known to couple with ERa at the plasma membrane. To investigate the behavioral relevance of these findings, we administered lentivirusexpressing short hairpin RNAs targeting either ERa or ERb into the VTA and found that knockdown of each receptor in the VTA reduced binge-like ethanol drinking in female, but not male, mice. Reducing ERa in the VTA had a more dramatic effect on binge-like drinking than reducing ERb, consistent with the ability of ERa to alter ethanol sensitivity of VTA neurons. These results provide important insight into sex-specific mechanisms that drive excessive alcohol drinking.
Elevations in estrogen (17b-estradiol, E2) are associated with increased alcohol drinking by women and experimentally in rodents. E2 alters the activity of the dopamine system, including the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and its projection targets, which plays an important role in binge drinking. A previous study demonstrated that during high E2 states, VTA dopamine neurons in female mice are more sensitive to ethanol excitation. However, the mechanisms responsible for the ability of E2 to enhance ethanol sensitivity of VTA dopamine neurons have not been investigated. In this study, we used selective agonists and antagonists to examine the role of estrogen receptor subtypes (ERa and ERb) in regulating the ethanol sensitivity of VTA dopamine neurons and found that ERa promotes the enhanced ethanol response of VTA dopamine neurons. We also demonstrated that the E2-induced increase in ethanol excitation requires the activity of the metabotropic glutamate receptor, mGluR1, which is known to couple with ERa at the plasma membrane. To investigate the behavioral relevance of these findings, we administered lentivirus expressing short hairpin RNAs targeting either ERa or ERb into the VTA and found that knockdown of each receptor in the VTA reduced binge-like ethanol drinking in female, but not male, mice. Reducing ERa in the VTA had a more dramatic effect on binge-like drinking than reducing ERb, consistent with the ability of ERa to alter ethanol sensitivity of dopamine neurons. These results provide important insight into sex-specific mechanisms that drive excessive alcohol drinking. Significance StatementEstrogen has potent effects on the dopamine system and increases the vulnerability of females to develop addiction to substances such as cocaine and alcohol. We investigated the mechanisms by which estrogen increases the response of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area to ethanol. We found that activation of the estrogen receptor, ERa, increased the ethanol-induced excitation of dopamine neurons and that this required the metabotropic glutamate receptor mGluR1. We also demonstrated that estrogen receptors in the ventral tegmental area regulate binge-like alcohol drinking by female, but not male, mice. The influence of estrogen receptors on binge drinking in female mice suggests that treatments for alcohol use disorder in women may need to account for this sex difference.
Collagen molecules are the primary structural proteins of many biological systems. Much progress has been made in the study of the structure and function of collagen, but fundamental understanding of its electronic structures at the atomic level is still lacking. We present the results of electronic structure and bonding calculations of a specific model of type I collagen using the density functional theory-based method. Information on density of states (DOS), partial DOS, effective charges, bond order values, and intra-and inter-molecular H-bonding are obtained and discussed. We further devised an amino-acid-based potential method (AAPM) to circumvent the full self-consistent field (SCF) calculation that can be applied to large proteins. The AAPM is validated by comparing the results with the full SCF calculation of the whole type I collagen model with three strands. The calculated effective charges on each atom in the model retained at least 95% accuracy. This technique provides a viable and efficient way to study the electronic structure of large complex biomaterials at the ab initio level.
Cocaine addiction afflicts nearly 1 million adults in the United States, and to date, there are no known treatments approved for this psychiatric condition. Women are particularly vulnerable to developing a cocaine use disorder and suffer from more serious cardiac consequences than men when using cocaine. Estrogen is one biological factor contributing to the increased risk for females to develop problematic cocaine use. Animal studies have demonstrated that estrogen (17β-estradiol or E2) enhances the rewarding properties of cocaine. Although E2 affects the dopamine system, the molecular and cellular mechanisms of E2-enhanced cocaine reward have not been characterized. In this study, quantitative top-down proteomics was used to measure intact proteins in specific regions of the female mouse brain after mice were trained for cocaine-conditioned place preference, a behavioral test of cocaine reward. Several proteoform changes occurred in the ventral tegmental area after combined cocaine and E2 treatments, with the most numerous proteoform alterations on myelin basic protein, indicating possible changes in white matter structure. There were also changes in histone H4, protein phosphatase inhibitors, cholecystokinin, and calmodulin proteoforms. These observations provide insight into estrogen signaling in the brain and may guide new approaches to treating women with cocaine use disorder.
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