Chronic intermittent ethanol exposure selectively alters the expression of G α subunit isoforms and RGS subtypes in rat prefrontal cortex.

Chronic intermittent ethanol exposure selectively alters the expression of Gα subunit isoforms and RGS subtypes in rat prefrontal cortex. Brain Res. 2017 Jul 20;: Authors: Jluessen D, Sun H, McGinnis MM, McCool BA, Chen R Abstract Chronic alcohol exposure induces pronounced changes in GPCR-mediated G-protein signaling. Recent microarray and RNA-seq analyses suggest associations between alcohol abuse and the expression of genes involved in G-protein signaling. The activity of G-proteins (e.g. Gαi/o and Gαq) is negatively modulated by regulator of G-protein signaling (RGS) proteins which are implicated in drugs of abuse including alcohol. The present study used 7 days of chronic intermittent ethanol exposure followed by 24 hour withdrawal (CIE) to investigate changes in mRNA and protein levels of G-protein subunit isoforms and RGS protein subtypes in rat prefrontal cortex, a region associated with cognitive deficit attributed to excessive alcohol drinking. We found that this ethanol paradigm induced differential expression of Gα subunits and RGS subtypes. For example, there were increased mRNA and protein levels of Gαi1/3 subunits and no changes in the expression of Gαs and Gαq subunits in ethanol-treated animals. Moreover, CIE increased the mRNA but not the protein levels of Gαo. Additionally, a modest increase in Gαi2 mRNA level by CIE was accompanied by a pronounced increase in its protein level. Interestingly, we found tha...
Source: Brain Research - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Brain Res Source Type: research