That Regulates Action of Chronic Cocaine Rockefeller University scientists have found that an enzyme called Cdk5 regulates the action of chronic cocaine in the brain. In a paper published in the March 15 issue of Nature, members of Vincent Astor Professor Paul Greengard 's Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience and colleagues at other institutions identify Cdk5's role in the long-term changes associated with cocaine addiction. A new finding in the laboratory of Vincent Astor Professor Paul Greengard could have major implications for treatment of addiction.
Cocaine addiction develops through repeated exposure to the drug.
In response, the brain attempts to maintain equilibrium by countering the effects of repeated drug administration. This succession of events appears to underlie the adaptive changes occurring in the addictive brain. Cdk5 regulates certain effects of chronic cocaine by controlling the signaling of a neurotransmitter called dopamine. Dopamine is involved in fine motor control, reward and reproductive behavior, but abnormalities in dopamine signaling are associated with several neurological and psychiatric disorders, including substance abuse. When dopamine is released in the brain, it binds to a receptor and starts a cascade of biochemical events.