Université de Fribourg

Role of accumbens BDNF and TrkB in cocaine-induced psychomotor sensitization, conditioned-place preference, and reinstatement in rats

Bahi, Amine ; Boyer, Frederic ; Vijay, Chandrasekar ; Dreyer, Jean-Luc

In: Psychopharmacology, 2008, vol. 199, no. 2, p. 169-182

Background Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is involved in the survival and function of midbrain DA neurons. BDNF action is mediated by the TrkB receptor–tyrosine kinase, and both BDNF and TrkB transcripts are widely expressed in the rat mesolimbic pathway, including the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and the ventral tegmentum area (VTA). Objective BDNF was previously shown to be involved in...

Université de Fribourg

Overexpression of plasminogen activators in the nucleus accumbens enhances cocaine-, amphetamine- and morphine-induced reward and behavioral sensitization

Bahi, Amine ; Dreyer, Jean-Luc

In: Genes, Brain and Behavior, 2008, vol. 7, no. 2, p. 244 - 256

Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) are extracellular proteases that play a role in synaptic plasticity and remodeling. Psychostimulants induce both tPA and uPA in acute and chronic drug delivery, but cocaine induces preferentially uPA, whereas morphine and amphetamine induce preferentially tPA. Specific doxycline-regulatable lentiviruses...

Université de Fribourg

The role of tissue-type plasminogen activator system in amphetamine-induced conditional place preference extinction and reinstatement

Bahi, Amine ; Kusnecov, Alexander ; Dreyer, Jean-Luc

In: Neuropsychopharmacology, 2008, vol. 33, p. 2726–2734

Extracellular serine proteases of the plasminogen activator family (tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) may modulate synaptic adhesion and associate with learning behavior. Psychostimulants strongly induce their expression in the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway, but cocaine preferentially induces uPA, whereas morphine and amphetamine...

Université de Fribourg

Impairment of acquisition of intravenous cocaine self-administration by RNA-interference of dopamine D1-receptors in the nucleus accumbens shell

Pisanu, Augusta ; Lecca, Daniele ; Valentini, Valentina ; Bahi, Amine ; Dreyer, Jean-Luc ; Cacciapaglia, Fabio ; Scifo, Andrea ; Piras, Giovanna ; Cadoni, Cristina ; Chiara, Gaetano Di

In: Neuropharmacology, 2015, vol. 89, p. 398–411

Microdialysis during i.v. drug self-administration (SA) have implicated nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell DA in cocaine and heroin reinforcement. However, this correlative evidence has not been yet substantiated by experimental evidence obtained by studying the effect of selective manipulation of NAc shell DA transmission on cocaine and heroin SA. In order to investigate this issue, DA D1a receptor...