Dopamine modulates acute responses to
cocaine, nicotine and ethanol in Drosophila
by
Bainton RJ, Tsai LT, Singh CM,
Moore MS, Neckameyer WS, Heberlein U
Department of Anesthesia,
University of California San Francisco,
California, 94143-0452, USA
Curr Biol 2000 Feb 24;10(4):187-194
ABSTRACTBackground: Drugs of abuse have a common property in mammals, which is their ability to facilitate the release of the neurotransmitter and neuromodulator dopamine in specific brain regions involved in reward and motivation. This increase in synaptic dopamine levels is believed to act as a positive reinforcer and to mediate some of the acute responses to drugs. The mechanisms by which dopamine regulates acute drug responses and addiction remain unknown. Results: We present evidence that dopamine plays a role in the responses of Drosophila to cocaine, nicotine or ethanol. We used a startle-induced negative geotaxis assay and a locomotor tracking system to measure the effect of psychostimulants on fly behavior. Using these assays, we show that acute responses to cocaine and nicotine are blunted by pharmacologically induced reductions in dopamine levels. Cocaine and nicotine showed a high degree of synergy in their effects, which is consistent with an action through convergent pathways. In addition, we found that dopamine is involved in the acute locomotor-activating effect, but not the sedating effect, of ethanol. Conclusions: We show that in Drosophila, as in mammals, dopaminergic pathways play a role in modulating specific behavioral responses to cocaine, nicotine or ethanol. We therefore suggest that Drosophila can be used as a genetically tractable model system in which to study the mechanisms underlying behavioral responses to multiple drugs of abuse.Bees
Flies
Bugs
Cocaine
Dopamine
Venlafaxine
Noradrenaline
Drug education?
Cocaine hotspots
Rats on speedballs
Cocaine withdrawal
Transient tolerance
The rewards of cocaine
Contaminated currency
The neural basis of addiction
Is the dollar based on coke?
Freebasing flies go hyperkinetic
The bacterial junkie: Rhodococcus sp. strain MB101 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
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