Epigenetic remodeling contributes to synaptic plasticity via modification of gene expression, which underlies cocaine-induced long-term memory. A prevailing hypothesis in drug addiction is that drugs of abuse rejuvenate developmental machinery to render reward circuitry highly plastic and thus engender drug memories to be highly stable. Identification and reversal of these pathological pathways are therefore critical for cocaine abuse treatment. Previous studies revealed an interesting finding in which the mRNA of histone lysine demethylase, KDM6B, is upregulated in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) during early cocaine withdrawal. However, whether and how it contributes to drug-seeking behavior remain unknown. Here we used a conditioned place preference paradigm to investigate the potential role of KDM6B in drug-associated memory. We found that KDM6B protein levels selectively increased in the mPFC during cocaine withdrawal. Notably, systemic injection of KDM6B inhibitor, GSK-J4, disrupted both reconsolidation of cocaine-conditioned memory and cocaine-primed reinstatement, suggesting dual effects of KDM6B in cocaine reward memory. In addition, we found that NMDAR expression and function were both enhanced during early cocaine withdrawal in mPFC. Injection of GSK-J4 selectively reversed this cocaine-induced increase of NR2A expression and synaptic function, suggesting that mal-adaptation of cocaine-induced synaptic plasticity in mPFC largely underlies KDM6B-mediated cocaine-associated memory. Altogether, these data suggest that KDM6B plays an essential role in cocaine-associated memory, which mainly acts through enhancing cocaine-induced synaptic plasticity in the mPFC. Our findings revealed a novel role of KDM6B in cocaine-associated memory and inhibition of KDM6B is a potential strategy to alleviate drug-seeking behavior.

Background/Objective-Pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes (GDM) or maternal obesity have been linked to the development of diabetes, obesity and fatty liver disease later in life with sex-specific manifestations. Alterations in miRNA expression in offspring exposed to GDM and maternal obesity and effects on hepatic development are unknown. Here we describe how exposure to maternal obesity in utero leads to sex-specific changes in miRNA and target gene expression in human fetal liver. Methods-Candidate miRNA expression was measured in 2 nd trimester amniotic fluid (AF) from women with GDM. Targets of differentially expressed miRNAs were determined and pathway enrichment of target genes was performed. MiRNA and target gene expression were measured in a separate cohort of 2 nd trimester primary human fetal hepatocytes (PHFH) exposed to maternal obesity via QPCR and western blot. All studies were IRB approved. Users may view, print, copy, and download text and data-mine the content in such documents, for the purposes of academic research, subject always to the full Conditions of use:

No abstract

Considerable evidence supports a contributory role for leukocyte-type 12/15 Lipoxygenase (L-12/15 LO) in mediating hippocampal and cortical neuronal injury in models of Alzheimer’s disease and stroke. Whether L-12/15 LO contributes to neuronal injury in a model of Huntington’s disease (HD) has yet to be determined. HD is characterized by marked striatal neuronal loss, which can be mimicked in humans and animals by inhibition of mitochondrial complex II using 3-Nitropropionic acid (3-NP). Herein, we compared histological and behavioral outcomes between mice that were wild-type or null for L-12/15 LO following systemic injection of 3NP. We found that mice deficient in L-12/15 LO had a higher incidence of striatal lesions coincident with an increase in morbidity as compared to their wild-type littermate controls. This could not be explained by differential metabolism of 3-NP as striatal succinate dehydrogenase activity was inhibited to the same extent in both genotypes. The present results show that deleting L-12/15 LO is detrimental to the striatum in the setting of chronic, systemic 3-NP exposure and are consistent with the overall conclusion that region-specific effects may determine the ultimate outcome of L-12/15 LO activation in the setting of brain injury.

No abstract