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Molecular fingerprints in the hippocampus of alcohol seeking during withdrawal
Preprint   Open access

Molecular fingerprints in the hippocampus of alcohol seeking during withdrawal

Kasia Radwańska, Roberto Pagano, Ahmad Salamian, Edyta Skonieczna, Bartosz Wojtas, Bartek Gielniewski, Zofia Harda, Anna Cały, Robbert Havekes and Ted Abel
Research Square
American Journal Experts
09/28/2023
DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3337670/v1
PMCID: PMC10571638
PMID: 37841864
url
https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3337670/v1View
Preprint (Author's original)This preprint has not been evaluated by subject experts through peer review. Preprints may undergo extensive changes and/or become peer-reviewed journal articles. Open Access

Abstract

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is characterized by pathological motivation to consume alcohol and cognitive inflexibility, leading to excessive alcohol seeking and use. Due to limited understanding of the molecular basis of the disease, there are few pharmacological interventions available to combat AUD. In this study, we aimed to investigate the molecular correlates of impaired extinction of alcohol seeking during alcohol withdrawal using a mouse model of AUD implemented in the automated IntelliCage social system. This model enabled us to distinguish between animals exhibiting AUD-prone and AUD-resistant phenotypes, based on the presence of ≥ 2 or < 2 criteria of AUD, respectively. We utilized new generation RNA sequencing to identify genes that were differentially expressed in the hippocampus and amygdala of mice meeting ≥ 2 or < 2 criteria, as these brain regions are implicated in alcohol motivation, seeking, consumption and the cognitive inflexibility characteristic of AUD. To complement the sequencing studies, we conducted ex vivo electrophysiology experiments. Our findings revealed significant dysregulation of the hippocampal genes associated with the actin cytoskeleton and synaptic function, including actin binding molecule cofilin, during alcohol withdrawal in mice meeting ≥ 2 criteria compared to those meeting < 2 criteria. Moreover, this dysregulation was accompanied by impaired synaptic transmission in the molecular layer of the hippocampal dentate gyrus (ML-DG). Additionally, we demonstrated that overexpression of cofilin in the polymorphic layer of the hippocampal dentate gyrus (PoDG) inhibited ML-DG synapses, increased motivation to seek alcohol, impaired extinction of alcohol seeking and increased correlation between AUD behaviors, resembling the phenotype observed in mice meeting ≥ 2 criteria. Overall, our study uncovers a novel mechanism linking increased hippocampal cofilin expression with the AUD phenotype.

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