{"title":"Nicotine-induced transcriptional changes and mitochondrial dysfunction in the ventral tegmental area revealed by single-nucleus transcriptomics.","authors":"Lei Fan, Boxin Liu, Ru Yao, Xia Gao, Hongjuan Wang, Sanjie Jiang, Xiaomin Zheng, Huan Chen, Hongwei Hou, Yong Liu, Qingyuan Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.jgg.2024.08.009","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nicotine is widely recognized as the primary contributor to tobacco dependence. Previous studies have indicated that molecular and behavioral responses to nicotine are primarily mediated by ventral tegmental area (VTA) neurons, and accumulating evidence suggests that glia play prominent roles in nicotine addiction. However, VTA neurons and glia have yet to be characterized at the transcriptional level during the progression of nicotine self-administration. Here, a male mouse model of nicotine self-administration was established and the timing of three critical phases (pre-addiction, addicting, and post-addiction phase) was characterized. Single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) in the VTA at each phase was performed to comprehensively classify specific cell subtypes. Adaptive changes occurred during the addicting and post-addiction phases, with the addicting phase displaying highly dynamic neuroplasticity that profoundly impacted the transcription in each cell subtype. Furthermore, significant transcriptional changes in energy metabolism-related genes were observed, accompanied by notable structural alterations in neuronal mitochondria during the progression of nicotine self-administration. The results provide insights into mechanisms underlying the progression of nicotine addiction, serving as important resource for identifying potential molecular targets for nicotine cessation.</p>","PeriodicalId":54825,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Genetics and Genomics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Genetics and Genomics","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jgg.2024.08.009","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Nicotine is widely recognized as the primary contributor to tobacco dependence. Previous studies have indicated that molecular and behavioral responses to nicotine are primarily mediated by ventral tegmental area (VTA) neurons, and accumulating evidence suggests that glia play prominent roles in nicotine addiction. However, VTA neurons and glia have yet to be characterized at the transcriptional level during the progression of nicotine self-administration. Here, a male mouse model of nicotine self-administration was established and the timing of three critical phases (pre-addiction, addicting, and post-addiction phase) was characterized. Single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) in the VTA at each phase was performed to comprehensively classify specific cell subtypes. Adaptive changes occurred during the addicting and post-addiction phases, with the addicting phase displaying highly dynamic neuroplasticity that profoundly impacted the transcription in each cell subtype. Furthermore, significant transcriptional changes in energy metabolism-related genes were observed, accompanied by notable structural alterations in neuronal mitochondria during the progression of nicotine self-administration. The results provide insights into mechanisms underlying the progression of nicotine addiction, serving as important resource for identifying potential molecular targets for nicotine cessation.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Genetics and Genomics (JGG, formerly known as Acta Genetica Sinica ) is an international journal publishing peer-reviewed articles of novel and significant discoveries in the fields of genetics and genomics. Topics of particular interest include but are not limited to molecular genetics, developmental genetics, cytogenetics, epigenetics, medical genetics, population and evolutionary genetics, genomics and functional genomics as well as bioinformatics and computational biology.