Rewarding Social Interaction in Rats Increases CaMKII in the Nucleus Accumbens
Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is known to be involved in the sensitized locomotor responses and drug-seeking behavior to psychostimulants. However, little is known about the contribution of CaMKII signaling in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in natural rewards such as social in...
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Biomedicines |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/9/12/1886 |
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| author | Inês M. Amaral Laura Scheffauer Angelika B. Langeder Alex Hofer Rana El Rawas |
| author_facet | Inês M. Amaral Laura Scheffauer Angelika B. Langeder Alex Hofer Rana El Rawas |
| author_sort | Inês M. Amaral |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is known to be involved in the sensitized locomotor responses and drug-seeking behavior to psychostimulants. However, little is known about the contribution of CaMKII signaling in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in natural rewards such as social interaction. The present experiments explored the implication of CaMKII signaling in drug versus natural reward. In the NAc of rats expressing cocaine or social interaction conditioned place preference (CPP), αCaMKII activation was induced in those expressing social interaction but not cocaine CPP. In order to investigate the role of NAc CaMKII in the expression of reward-related learning of drug versus non-drug stimuli, we inhibited CaMKII through an infusion of KN-93, a CaMKII inhibitor, directly into the NAc shell or core, before the CPP test in a concurrent paradigm in which social interaction was made available in the compartment alternative to the one associated with cocaine during conditioning. Whereas vehicle infusions led to equal preference to both stimuli, inhibition of CaMKII by a KN-93 infusion before the CPP test in the shell but not the core of the NAc shifted the rats’ preference toward the cocaine-associated compartment. Altogether, these results suggest that social interaction reward engages CaMKII in the NAc. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:33:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-43be0be745154d0a9989a654f54b8387 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9059 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T04:33:35Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biomedicines |
| spelling | doaj.art-43be0be745154d0a9989a654f54b83872023-11-23T03:57:06ZengMDPI AGBiomedicines2227-90592021-12-01912188610.3390/biomedicines9121886Rewarding Social Interaction in Rats Increases CaMKII in the Nucleus AccumbensInês M. Amaral0Laura Scheffauer1Angelika B. Langeder2Alex Hofer3Rana El Rawas4Division of Psychiatry I, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Medical Psychology, Medical University Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaDivision of Psychiatry I, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Medical Psychology, Medical University Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaDivision of Psychiatry I, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Medical Psychology, Medical University Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaDivision of Psychiatry I, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Medical Psychology, Medical University Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaDivision of Psychiatry I, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Psychosomatics and Medical Psychology, Medical University Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaCalcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is known to be involved in the sensitized locomotor responses and drug-seeking behavior to psychostimulants. However, little is known about the contribution of CaMKII signaling in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in natural rewards such as social interaction. The present experiments explored the implication of CaMKII signaling in drug versus natural reward. In the NAc of rats expressing cocaine or social interaction conditioned place preference (CPP), αCaMKII activation was induced in those expressing social interaction but not cocaine CPP. In order to investigate the role of NAc CaMKII in the expression of reward-related learning of drug versus non-drug stimuli, we inhibited CaMKII through an infusion of KN-93, a CaMKII inhibitor, directly into the NAc shell or core, before the CPP test in a concurrent paradigm in which social interaction was made available in the compartment alternative to the one associated with cocaine during conditioning. Whereas vehicle infusions led to equal preference to both stimuli, inhibition of CaMKII by a KN-93 infusion before the CPP test in the shell but not the core of the NAc shifted the rats’ preference toward the cocaine-associated compartment. Altogether, these results suggest that social interaction reward engages CaMKII in the NAc.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/9/12/1886CaMKIInucleus accumbenssocial interactioncocainenatural rewarddrug reward |
| spellingShingle | Inês M. Amaral Laura Scheffauer Angelika B. Langeder Alex Hofer Rana El Rawas Rewarding Social Interaction in Rats Increases CaMKII in the Nucleus Accumbens Biomedicines CaMKII nucleus accumbens social interaction cocaine natural reward drug reward |
| title | Rewarding Social Interaction in Rats Increases CaMKII in the Nucleus Accumbens |
| title_full | Rewarding Social Interaction in Rats Increases CaMKII in the Nucleus Accumbens |
| title_fullStr | Rewarding Social Interaction in Rats Increases CaMKII in the Nucleus Accumbens |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rewarding Social Interaction in Rats Increases CaMKII in the Nucleus Accumbens |
| title_short | Rewarding Social Interaction in Rats Increases CaMKII in the Nucleus Accumbens |
| title_sort | rewarding social interaction in rats increases camkii in the nucleus accumbens |
| topic | CaMKII nucleus accumbens social interaction cocaine natural reward drug reward |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/9/12/1886 |
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