MOLECULAR & CELLULAR
NEUROBIOLOGY - NEUROGENOMICS
Master Course Cognitive Neuroscience - Radboud
University, Nijmegen
Chapter 4: Genomics |
Microarray expression profiling
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A second example: neuronal plasticity of the brain dopamine system is thought to underlie the behavioral changes elicited by chronic exposure to drugs of abuse such as cocaine. To identify the potential mechanisms responsible for these adaptive changes, three genetically distinct mouse models of altered dopaminergic function have been used. These genetic animal models that recapitulate the pharmacological models of "behavioral sensitization" associated with exposure to psychostimulants (dopamine transporter knockout; DATKO); tricyclic antidepressants (norepinephrine transporter knockout, NETKO) and reserpine (vesicular monoamine transporter knockout, VMAT2+/-), all demonstrate enhanced behavioral responses to direct or indirect dopamine receptor agonists. |
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By microarray expression profiling of 36,000 genes/ESTs (expressed sequence tags), a handful of commonly up- and down-regulated genes in the striatum of the three mutant lines was identified. Comparison of this profile with that of normal mice pharmacologically sensitized to cocaine, further restricted this collection to only two down-regulated genes, giving insight into a possible general mechanism underlying drug-induced neuronal and behavioral plasticity. See also under "Molecular biological research methodology": Microarray analysis
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Next page: Genetic variations | Go back to: Generation...... atlases of the CNS |