Role of Sigma Receptor in Cocaine-Mediated Induction of Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein: Implications for HAND

Lu Yang, Honghong Yao, Xufeng Chen, Yu Cai, Shannon Callen, Shilpa Buch

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cocaine abuse has been shown to accelerate the progression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1-associated neurological disorders (HANDs) partially through increasing neuroinflammatory response mediated by activated astrocytes; however, the detailed molecular mechanism of cocaine-mediated astrocyte activation is unclear. In the current study, we demonstrated increased astrogliosis in the cortical regions of brains from HIV+ cocaine abusers compared with the HIV+ group without cocaine abuse. We next sought to explore whether cocaine exposure could result in increased expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a filament protein critical for astrocyte activation. Exposure of cocaine to astrocytes resulted in rapid translocation of sigma receptor to the plasma membrane with subsequent activation of downstream signaling pathways. Using a pharmacological approach, we provide evidence that cocaine-mediated upregulation of GFAP expression involved activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling with subsequent downstream activation of the early growth response gene 1 (Egr-1). Egr-1 activation, in turn, caused transcriptional regulation of GFAP. Corroboration of these findings in vivo demonstrated increased expression of GFAP in the cortical region of mice treated with cocaine compared with the saline injected controls. A thorough understanding of how cocaine mediates astrogliosis could have implications for the development of therapeutic interventions aimed at HIV-infected cocaine abusers.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1329-1342
Number of pages14
JournalMolecular Neurobiology
Volume53
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2016

Keywords

  • Astrocyte activation
  • Cocaine
  • Egr-1
  • HAND
  • σ-1R translocation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neurology
  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

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