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Neuroscience

MicroRNA knocks down cocaine

Nature volume 466, pages 194–195 (2010)Cite this article

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Cocaine abuse results in increased craving for the drug. But in the long run, cocaine intake induces the expression of a microRNA in the brain, and this seems to limit further drug intake.

The brain has a tremendous capacity to respond to the environment so that altered conditions seem normal. Long-term intake of addictive substances such as cocaine, heroin and nicotine, for example, results in neurological adaptations that decrease an individual's sensitivity to these drugs. Opiate addicts might have only a modest reaction to a certain dose of heroin, but the same amount could cause an overdose in a novice user. Consequently, these addicts feel normal only when the drug is in their system, and they need an increasingly higher dose to achieve the desired effect. On page 197 of this issue, Hollander and colleagues1 identify a molecular mechanism that limits the transition to an uncontrolled intake of cocaine in rats that have been exposed to the drug over a long period.

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Figure 1: Counteracting cocaine intake.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marina R. Picciotto is in the Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06508, USA. marina.picciotto@yale.edu,

    Marina R. Picciotto

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  1. Marina R. Picciotto
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Picciotto, M. MicroRNA knocks down cocaine. Nature 466, 194–195 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/466194a

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