Date of Completion
2024
Document Type
Honors College Thesis
Department
Neuroscience
Thesis Type
Honors College, College of Arts and Science Honors
First Advisor
Heather Driscoll
Second Advisor
Donna Toufexis
Keywords
Bioinformatics, Molecular signatures, Nicotine Dependence, MAPK, Neuroplasticity, Rodent models
Abstract
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is highly heritable and increases the likelihood of substance abuse. The self-medication hypothesis of nicotine use in ADHD proposes that ADHD patients seek nicotine for its ability to improve their symptoms, and they have less success quitting, possibly due to the worsening of symptoms in withdrawal (Liebrenz et. al., 2014). By comparing the transcriptome of rodent models of ADHD to those of nicotine dependence (ND), the present analysis identified novel differentially expressed genes that may contribute to their high co-occurrence (PRKAG2, MAPK1), and genes with known associations to ADHD or ND (ANK3, CALD1, CHRNA4, CHRNA7, CMTM8, DLG4, DUSP6, GNG3, GNG11, GRIK5, GRINA2, ICAM2, KCNJ6, PRKAB1, SYNPO, VAMP2). MAPK signaling pathways (R HSA-5673001, R-HSA-5684996) and synaptic transmission (R-HAS-112315) were enriched in both ADHD and ND. These pathways mediate neurological mechanisms that contribute to ND.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Van Horn, Sarah; Driscoll, Heather; and Toufexis, Donna, "Transcriptomic Dysregulation in Rodent Models of ADHD and Substance Use Suggests Shared Neural Mechanisms" (2024). UVM Patrick Leahy Honors College Senior Theses. 669.
https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/hcoltheses/669
Supplemental Materials
Comments
The contents of this thesis are only available in the Honors College office until publication.