“Once you get out of whack, this is something
that might help bring you back.” — MARi NA Piccio T To
RNA snippet may
curtail addiction
Elevating levels in rodents’
brains blunted cocaine use
If the results hold true in people, CREB has been found to help fight
researchers may be able to develop addiction(SN: 5/24/08, p. 14
)bydecreas-new therapies for treating addiction ing the reward from taking cocaine,
to cocaine and other drugs of abuse, sometimes to the point that rats actually
perhaps by developing drugs that mimic develop an aversion to the drug.
miR-212’saction. Protecting against cocaine addic-
“Once you get out of whack, this is tion may be a side benefit of miR-212’s
something that might help bring you normal job of regulating CREB produc-
By Tina Hesman Saey
back,” says Yale University neuro- tion and other biochemical processes in
Little things can make a big difference in scientist Marina Picciotto, who was not the brain, Kenny says. The microRNA
the brain. Case in point: A tiny snippet of involved in the study. helps set the correct level of CREB pro-
RNA may help guard cocaine-using rats At 21 to 23 RNA units long, microRNAs duction. In rodents, low levels of the pro-
against addiction, a new study shows. are regulatory molecules (SN: 3/1/08, tein have been linked to addiction and
The tiny molecular guard is a hair- p. 136) that govern part of the process by anxiety and high levels to depression. So
pin-shaped piece of RNA known as which instructions contained in DNA are any therapy targeting CREB would have
a microRNA. Raising levels of the transformed into proteins. Themolecules to strike a delicate balance. “Obviously
microRNA miR-212 in the brains of generally block protein production. there could be some very profound side
cocaine-using rats led them to take less of So it was a surprise to find that levels effects,” Kenny says.
thedrug thanrats with normalmicroRNA of a protein called CREB increase with The researchers are investigating
levels, researchers report in the July 8 rising levels of miR-212, says Paul Kenny, how miR-212 is regulated and whether
Nature. Blocking the microRNA’s action a neuroscientist at the Scripps Research it is protective against addiction to other
increased the rats’ cocaine use. Institute in Jupiter, Fla. drugs, such as nicotine and alcohol.
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