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Cui J, Huang N, Fan G, Pan T, Han K, Jiang C, Liu X, Wang F, Ma L, Le Q. Paternal cocaine-seeking motivation defines offspring's vulnerability to addiction by down-regulating GABAergic GABRG3 in the ventral tegmental area. Transl Psychiatry 2024; 14:107. [PMID: 38388464 PMCID: PMC10884401 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-024-02835-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Revised: 02/10/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Epidemiological investigations indicate that parental drug abuse experiences significantly influenced the addiction vulnerability of offspring. Studies using animal models have shown that paternal cocaine use and highly motivated drug-seeking behavior are important determinants of offspring addiction susceptibility. However, the key molecules contributing to offspring addiction susceptibility are currently unclear. The motivation for cocaine-seeking behavior in offspring of male rats was compared between those whose fathers self-administered cocaine (SA) and those who were yoked with them and received non-contingent cocaine administrations (Yoke). We found that paternal experience with cocaine-seeking behavior, but not direct cocaine exposure, could lead to increased lever-pressing behavior in male F1 offspring. This effect was observed without significant changes to the dose-response relationship. The transcriptomes of ventral tegmental area (VTA) in offspring were analyzed under both naive state and after self-administration training. Specific transcriptomic changes in response to paternal cocaine-seeking experiences were found, which mainly affected biological processes such as synaptic connections and receptor signaling pathways. Through joint analysis of these candidate genes and parental drug-seeking motivation scores, we found that gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor subunit gamma-3 (Gabrg3) was in the hub position of the drug-seeking motivation-related module network and highly correlated with parental drug-seeking motivation scores. The downregulation of Gabrg3 expression, caused by paternal motivational cocaine-seeking, mainly occurred in GABAergic neurons in the VTA. Furthermore, down-regulating GABAergic Gabrg3 in VTA resulted in an increase in cocaine-seeking behavior in the Yoke F1 group. This down-regulation also reduced transcriptome differences between the Yoke and SA groups, affecting processes related to synaptic formation and neurotransmitter transmission. Taken together, we propose that paternal cocaine-seeking behavior, rather than direct drug exposure, significantly influences offspring addiction susceptibility through the downregulation of Gabrg3 in GABAergic neurons of the VTA, highlighting the importance of understanding specific molecular pathways in the intergenerational inheritance of addiction vulnerability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian Cui
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institutes of Brain Science, Department of Neurology, Pharmacology Research Center, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Nan Huang
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institutes of Brain Science, Department of Neurology, Pharmacology Research Center, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Guangyuan Fan
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institutes of Brain Science, Department of Neurology, Pharmacology Research Center, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Tao Pan
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institutes of Brain Science, Department of Neurology, Pharmacology Research Center, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Kunxiu Han
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institutes of Brain Science, Department of Neurology, Pharmacology Research Center, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Changyou Jiang
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institutes of Brain Science, Department of Neurology, Pharmacology Research Center, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Research Unit of Addiction Memory, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (2021RU009), Shanghai, China
| | - Xing Liu
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institutes of Brain Science, Department of Neurology, Pharmacology Research Center, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Research Unit of Addiction Memory, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (2021RU009), Shanghai, China
| | - Feifei Wang
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institutes of Brain Science, Department of Neurology, Pharmacology Research Center, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Research Unit of Addiction Memory, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (2021RU009), Shanghai, China
| | - Lan Ma
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institutes of Brain Science, Department of Neurology, Pharmacology Research Center, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
- Research Unit of Addiction Memory, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (2021RU009), Shanghai, China.
| | - Qiumin Le
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Institutes of Brain Science, Department of Neurology, Pharmacology Research Center, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
- Research Unit of Addiction Memory, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (2021RU009), Shanghai, China.
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