Transcriptomics of environmental enrichment and cocaine using quantitative next generation sequencing

Environmental enrichment produces a protective addiction phenotype in animal models. Gene transcription is thought to mediate this protective phenotype and has a profound influence on neuronal plasticity and psychiatric disorders. Understanding the molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying environmental enrichment may lead to novel targets for pharmacotherapeutics to treat cocaine addiction. We investigated the differential regulation of transcript levels using RNA sequencing of the rat nucleus accumbens after environmental enrichment/isolation and cocaine/saline self-administration. New functional pathways were also identified for cocaine modulation and environmental enrichment. mRNA profiles were generated from the nucleus accumbens from enriched or isolated rats that self-administered cocaine or saline for 2 weeks, by RNA sequencing using illumina Hiseq1000.