Research Progress on mechanism of ERK signaling pathway in drug addiction / 中国药理学通报

ABSTRACT

Drug addiction is a chronic relapsing brain disease. Repeated drug exposure can cause neuroadaptations in major brain circuitries,leading to compulsive drug consumption behav-ior and relapse after abstinence.Many studies have found that intercellular signaling cascades mediated central nervous system remodeling in the rewarding circuitry and addiction associated neuroplasticity of learning and memory are important molecular mechanism of drug addiction.Studies show that extracellular sig-nal-regulated kinase (ERK)is associated with drug-mediated psychomotor activity,rewarding properties and relapse of drug seeking behaviors.Therefore,this article has reviewed the role of ERK signaling pathway in drug addiction.Research on the role of ERK signaling pathway in drug addiction will provide im-portant theoretical foundation for in-depth understanding of the molecular mechanism of drug addiction and shine a light on new molecular targets and treatment strategies for drug addiction.