Korean J Psychopharmacol.  2012 Jul;23(3):83-87.

The Role of PKMzeta in Drug Reward Memory

• Song MJ
• Kim JH

Abstract

Drug addiction is a chronic brain disease with a high incidence of relapse. Environmental cues that previously and repeatedly associated with drugs of abuse easily evoke relapse to addicts even after long period of drug-free state. Such a long lasting property of conditioning is considered a form of long-term memory and has a strong correlation with synaptic plasticity like long-term potentiation (LTP). Protein kinase M zeta (PKMzeta) has been known to play an important role in the maintenance of long-term memory as well as LTP in various brain areas. Likewise, in a few brain areas examined out of the rewarding circuit, PKMzeta seems to play a similarly important role in the maintenance of conditioned memory. These results suggest that PKMzeta may become a new target to manipulate to reverse pre-formed drug-related memory and accompanied behaviors.

Keyword

PKMzeta; Addiction; Reward memory; Nucleus accumbens; CPP; CPA

MeSH Terms

Brain
Brain Diseases
Cues
Incidence
Long-Term Potentiation
Memory
Memory, Long-Term
Nucleus Accumbens
Piperazines
Plastics
Protein Kinase C
Recurrence
Reward
Street Drugs
Substance-Related Disorders
Piperazines
Plastics
Protein Kinase C
Street Drugs