Nonenzymatic rapid control of GIRK channel function by a G protein-coupled receptor kinase.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) respond to agonists to activate downstream enzymatic pathways or to gate ion channel function. Turning off GPCR signaling is known to involve phosphorylation of the GPCR by GPCR kinases (GRKs) to initiate their internalization. The process, however, is relatively slow and cannot account for the faster desensitization responses required to regulate channel gating. Here, we show that GRKs enable rapid desensitization of the G protein-coupled potassium channel (GIRK/Kir3.x) through a mechanism independent of their kinase activity. On GPCR activation, GRKs translocate to the membrane and quench channel activation by competitively binding and titrating G protein ßγ subunits away from the channel. Of interest, the ability of GRKs to effect this rapid desensitization depends on the receptor type. The findings thus reveal a stimulus-specific, phosphorylation-independent mechanism for rapidly downregulating GPCR activity at the effector level.

Trisomy of the G protein-coupled K+ channel gene, Kcnj6, affects reward mechanisms, cognitive functions, and synaptic plasticity in mice.

G protein-activated inwardly rectifying K+ channels (GIRK) generate slow inhibitory postsynaptic potentials in the brain via G(i/o) protein-coupled receptors. GIRK2, a GIRK subunit, is widely abundant in the brain and has been implicated in various functions and pathologies, such as learning and memory, reward, motor coordination, and Down syndrome. Down syndrome, the most prevalent cause of mental retardation, results from the presence of an extra maternal chromosome 21 (trisomy 21), which comprises the Kcnj6 gene (GIRK2). The present study examined the behaviors and cellular physiology properties in mice harboring a single trisomy of the Kcnj6 gene. Kcnj6 triploid mice exhibit deficits in hippocampal-dependent learning and memory, altered responses to rewards, hampered depotentiation, a form of excitatory synaptic plasticity, and have accentuated long-term synaptic depression. Collectively the findings suggest that triplication of Kcnj6 gene may play an active role in some of the abnormal neurological phenotypes found in Down syndrome.

Repeated electrical stimulation of reward-related brain regions affects cocaine but not "natural" reinforcement.

Drug addiction is associated with long-lasting neuronal adaptations including alterations in dopamine and glutamate receptors in the brain reward system. Treatment strategies for cocaine addiction and especially the prevention of craving and relapse are limited, and their effectiveness is still questionable. We hypothesized that repeated stimulation of the brain reward system can induce localized neuronal adaptations that may either potentiate or reduce addictive behaviors. The present study was designed to test how repeated interference with the brain reward system using localized electrical stimulation of the medial forebrain bundle at the lateral hypothalamus (LH) or the prefrontal cortex (PFC) affects cocaine addiction-associated behaviors and some of the neuronal adaptations induced by repeated exposure to cocaine. Repeated high-frequency stimulation in either site influenced cocaine, but not sucrose reward-related behaviors. Stimulation of the LH reduced cue-induced seeking behavior, whereas stimulation of the PFC reduced both cocaine-seeking behavior and the motivation for its consumption. The behavioral findings were accompanied by glutamate receptor subtype alterations in the nucleus accumbens and the ventral tegmental area, both key structures of the reward system. It is therefore suggested that repeated electrical stimulation of the PFC can become a novel strategy for treating addiction.

A conflict rat model of cue-induced relapse to cocaine seeking.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVE: Relapse to drug use in humans can be induced by exposure to drug-associated cues. The ability of drug cues to provoke 'relapse' has been studied in laboratory animals using a reinstatement model in which resumption of drug seeking is assessed after extinction of drug-reinforced responding. In this model, there are no adverse consequences of drug-seeking behavior. However, in humans, abstinence is often self-imposed, and relapse episodes likely involve making a choice between the desire for the drug and the negative consequences of pursuing it (a conflict situation). In this paper, we describe a conflict model of cue-induced relapse in rats that approximate the human condition. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rats were trained to lever press for cocaine; infusions were paired with a discrete light cue. An 'electric barrier' was then introduced by electrifying the floor area near the levers. Responding decreased over days with increasing shock intensities, until the rats did not approach the levers for 3 days. Subsequently, the effect of intermittent noncontingent light-cue presentations on resumption of lever responding (relapse) was assessed in extinction tests, with the electric barrier remaining activated; during testing, lever presses led to contingent light-cue presentations. RESULTS: Noncontingent cue exposure led to resumption of lever presses during the relapse tests in 14 of the 24 rats. Surprisingly, 24 h later, 11 of the 24 rats resumed lever responding in a subsequent post-noncontingent cue test under similar extinction conditions. Large individual differences in responding were observed during both tests. CONCLUSIONS: At its current stage of development, the conflict relapse model appears particularly suitable for studying individual differences in cue-induced relapse to cocaine seeking or factors that promote this relapse.