Chromatin remodeler INO80 is essential for cocaine craving during prolonged withdrawal

Neuroadaptations in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) underlie cue-induced cocaine craving that intensifies (“incubates”) during withdrawal and contributes to persistent relapse vulnerability. Long-lasting gene changes govern perpetual behavioral abnormalities but the role of epigenetic plasticity in cocaine craving during prolonged withdrawal is poorly understood. Here we show that chromatin remodeler INO80 in the NAc mediates cocaine-induced, withdrawal-dependent plasticity and incubated cocaine craving.