Journal article
Knockdown of CRF1 receptors in the ventral tegmental area attenuates cue- and acute food deprivation stress-induced cocaine seeking in mice
NA Chen, B Jupp, Y Sztainberg, M Lebow, RM Brown, JH Kim, A Chen, AJ Lawrence
Journal of Neuroscience | Published : 2014
Abstract
Corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) modulates the influence of stress on cocaine reward and reward seeking acting at multiple sites, including the ventral tegmental area (VTA). There is controversy, however, concerning the contribution of CRF receptor type 1 (CRFR1) to this effect and whether CRF within the VTA is involved in other aspects of reward seeking independent of acute stress. Here we examine the role of CRFR1 within the VTA in relation to cocaine and natural reward using viral delivery of short hairpin RNAs (lenti-shCRFR1) and investigate the effect on operant self-administration and motivation to self-administer, as well as stress- and cue-induced reward seeking in mice. While k..
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Funding Acknowledgements
These studies were supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC; project grant 1021227) of which A.J.L. is a Principal Research Fellow, as well as an FP7 Grant (A.C.) from the European Research Council (260463) and a research Grant from the Israel Science Foundation (A.C.). B.J. is supported by fellowships from the NHMRC and AXA Research Fund. R.M.B. is a Peter Doherty Early Career Research Fellow. J.H.K. is a DECRA Fellow supported by the Australian Research Council. Financial support from the Besen Family Foundation and the Pratt Trust, plus the Victorian Government's Operational Infrastructure Support Program, are acknowledged. We acknowledge the expert technical assistance of Associate Professor Ross Bathgate, Dr. Craig Smith, and Sharon Layfield.