Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Drug Dependence

Drug Dependence

Medications are typically administered to achieve therapeutic effects. Some drugs can modify an individual's mood and perception, frequently resulting in various enjoyable experiences. However, this can result in drug dependency, a condition marked by continuous drug use despite potential negative consequences. Drug dependency primarily falls into two categories: psychological and physical dependence. Psychological dependence occurs when the pleasurable feelings induced by the drug...

Instinctive Drift

Instinctive Drift

Instinctive drift refers to the tendency of animals to revert to their innate behaviors despite repeated reinforcement. Breland and Breland demonstrated this concept in an experiment with a raccoon. The raccoon was trained to pick up two coins and place them in a container in exchange for food. Initially, the raccoon learned to associate the coins with food, making them a conditioned stimulus or a substitute for food. However, over time, the raccoon became less willing to put the coins into the...

Desensitization and Tachyphylaxis

Desensitization and Tachyphylaxis

Tachyphylaxis is described as a rapid decrease in response to a drug after repeated or continuous administration of the same drug dose. It is a phenomenon where the body becomes less responsive to a particular substance or intervention over time, requiring higher doses or stronger interventions to achieve the same effect. It results from adaptive changes in the body's receptors, signaling pathways, or physiological processes that occur in response to prolonged exposure to a stimulus.
Several...

Adrenergic Agonists: Indirect-Acting Agents

Adrenergic Agonists: Indirect-Acting Agents

Indirect-acting adrenergic agonists potentiate the effects of endogenous catecholamines through different mechanisms without directly binding to adrenoceptors.
One mechanism involves depleting stored catecholamines by displacing them from synaptic vesicles. These agents, known as "displacers," are transported into vesicles at the expense of noradrenaline. Examples include amphetamine and tyramine, which lack a catechol moiety, resulting in prolonged action, improved oral bioavailability, and...

Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena

Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena

Drug dependence, abuse, and addiction are complex phenomena that can precipitate various abnormal states. Physical dependence refers to a state of pharmacological adaptation to a drug. This adaptation often results in tolerance—a reduced response to the drug after repeated administrations. When the drug use is abruptly stopped, withdrawal symptoms occur due to the body's need to readjust from the pharmacologically induced imbalance. However, tolerance and withdrawal symptoms do not necessarily...

Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions

Intracellular Signaling Affects Focal Adhesions

Integrins act both as extracellular input receivers and as intracellular processing activators. As their name suggests, integrins are entirely integrated into the membrane structure. Their hydrophobic membrane-spanning regions interact with the phospholipid bilayer's hydrophobic region. These membrane receptors provide extracellular attachment sites for effectors like hormones and growth factors. They activate intracellular response cascades when their effectors are bound and active.
Some...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Maraviroc attenuates inflammation-exacerbated cognitive and amyloid pathology in an early-stage Alzheimer's disease mouse model.

Translational psychiatry·2026

Same author

Functional remodeling of the parasubthalamic nucleus drives alcohol drinking escalation in dependence.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Dual-engram architecture within a single striatal cell type distinctly controls alcohol relapse and extinction.

Neuron·2026

Same author

Artificial intelligence for adaptive neuromodulation in drug-resistant epilepsy.

Epilepsia·2026

Same author

Corrigendum "IRAS/Nischarin modulates morphine reward by glutamate receptor activation in the nucleus accumbens of mouse brain" [Biomed. Pharmacother. 153 (2022) 113346].

Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie·2026

Same author

Optimization of cortico-cortical spectral response analysis parameters for seizure onset zone localization.

Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 27, 2026

A Protocol for Measuring Cue Reactivity in a Rat Model of Cocaine Use Disorder

A Protocol for Measuring Cue Reactivity in a Rat Model of Cocaine Use Disorder

Published on: June 18, 2018

Integrins modulate relapse to cocaine-seeking.

Armina Wiggins¹, Rachel J Smith, Hao-Wei Shen

¹Department of Neurosciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425, USA.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience

|November 11, 2011

Summary

Integrins in the nucleus accumbens regulate cocaine-seeking behavior by influencing synaptic plasticity. Targeting integrins with arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD) peptide can inhibit cocaine relapse and normalize receptor expression.

More Related Videos

A Procedure to Study Stress-Induced Relapse of Heroin Seeking after Punishment-Imposed Abstinence

A Procedure to Study Stress-Induced Relapse of Heroin Seeking after Punishment-Imposed Abstinence

Published on: March 23, 2022

Reinstatement of Drug-seeking in Mice Using the Conditioned Place Preference Paradigm

Reinstatement of Drug-seeking in Mice Using the Conditioned Place Preference Paradigm

Published on: June 7, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 27, 2026

A Protocol for Measuring Cue Reactivity in a Rat Model of Cocaine Use Disorder

A Protocol for Measuring Cue Reactivity in a Rat Model of Cocaine Use Disorder

Published on: June 18, 2018

A Procedure to Study Stress-Induced Relapse of Heroin Seeking after Punishment-Imposed Abstinence

A Procedure to Study Stress-Induced Relapse of Heroin Seeking after Punishment-Imposed Abstinence

Published on: March 23, 2022

Reinstatement of Drug-seeking in Mice Using the Conditioned Place Preference Paradigm

Reinstatement of Drug-seeking in Mice Using the Conditioned Place Preference Paradigm

Published on: June 7, 2018

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Addiction Research
Molecular Biology

Background:

Relapse to cocaine-seeking is linked to impaired synaptic plasticity in the nucleus accumbens.
Integrins, cell adhesion molecules, regulate synaptic plasticity and glutamate receptor trafficking.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of integrins in cocaine-seeking behavior and relapse.
To determine if targeting integrins can modulate cocaine-induced drug-seeking.

Main Methods:

Rats self-administered cocaine, underwent extinction, and experienced cue- or drug-induced reinstatement of seeking.
Microinjections of arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD) peptide into the nucleus accumbens core were administered during different phases of the protocol.
Levels of the β3 integrin subunit and surface expression of the GluR2 subunit of the AMPA receptor were measured.

Main Results:

Cocaine self-administration reduced β3 integrin in the nucleus accumbens; abstinence and extinction training elevated β3 during cocaine-seeking.
RGD peptide injections during self-administration or before reinstatement inhibited cocaine-seeking and prevented enduring changes in β3 levels.
RGD normalized reduced surface expression of GluR2, which is associated with cocaine-seeking.

Conclusions:

Integrin regulation in the nucleus accumbens contributes to cocaine-reinstated drug-seeking.
Targeting integrins, potentially via RGD peptide, may offer a therapeutic strategy for cocaine addiction by affecting synaptic plasticity and receptor expression.