The Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing is an academic center affiliated with the Division of Toxicological Sciences in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

 

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health

Research Grants 1999-2000

Behavioral and Molecular Effects of Cocaine in Drosophila Melanogaster

German Torres, PhD
State University of New York, Buffalo, New York

Final Report

Understanding the behavioral, molecular and genetic mechanisms involved in the actions of cocaine remains a challenging issue in neuroscience. Many experimental approaches have been used to elucidate which biological processes contribute to the development of a drug-dependent state. Rodent and non-human primate models have been most thoroughly and successfully applied in the investigation of drug-induced behaviors. Yet, questions fundamental to understanding cocaine addiction remain. For instance, what are the molecular and genetic mechanisms specifying cocaine-related behaviors? As with other issues in neuroscience, an experimentally tractable animal is important to answer such questions. Although studies with rodents are beginning to shed some light on the above issue, these animals with their complex and intricate nervous systems, are not always suitable for studying basic questions related to genes and behavior. In addition, even when genetic manipulations are possible, they are not easy. Therefore, one approach to understand the effects of cocaine on behavior is to study "simpler" systems such as Drosophila. This organism, which has extensive biochemical information, is amenable to studies of genetic processes that are common to all animals. Also, genetic manipulations in Drosophila are relatively easy, and therefore information about highly conserved cellular processes derived from fly studies can be readily extrapolated to vertebrates, including humans. We propose to take advantage of these outstanding experimental features of Drosophila to determine the use of this non-mammalian organism as a model to study the behavioral and molecular effects of cocaine.