Local infusion of Rox selectively attenuates Mor-CPP acquisition and knockdown of HIF-1α abolishes Rox efficiency on Mor-CPP. Bilateral cannulae was implanted into PFC, NAc (shell), STR and HIP 7 days prior to CPP performance, respectively. a Local infusion of Rox (20 μmol/L, 2 μL per site) for 2 h dose-dependently upregulated HIF-1α expression in PFC (n = 3, F(5,12) = 4.451, P = 0.0159). b–e Local infusion of Rox 2 h before Mor injection every day in conditioning phase inhibited Mor-CPP acquisition in following brain regions: PFC (Veh-Sal, n = 10; Veh-Mor, n = 13; Rox-Sal, n = 9; Rox-Mor, n = 14; group, F(1,42) = 21.97, P < 0.0001; drug, F(1,42) = 4.694, P = 0.0360; group × drug, F(1,42) = 2.631, P = 0.1122); NAc (shell) (Veh-Sal, n = 12; Veh-Mor, n = 15; Rox-Sal, n = 12; Rox-Mor, n = 14; group, F(1,49) = 21.05, P < 0.0001; drug, F(1,49) = 2.981, P = 0.0905; group × drug, F(1,49) = 4.043, P = 0.0499); and STR (Veh-Sal, n = 10; Veh-Mor, n = 11; Rox-Sal, n = 10; Rox-Mor, n = 12; group, F(1,39) = 19.69, P < 0.0001; drug, F(1,39) = 2.719, P = 0.1072; group × drug, F(1,39) = 8.609, P = 0.0056) as indicated by reduction in CPP scores; no effect of Rox in HIP (Veh-Sal, n = 12; Veh-Mor, n = 14; Rox-Sal, n = 11; Rox-Mor, n = 14; group, F(1,47) = 39.28, P < 0.0001; drug, F(1,47) = 0.5163, P = 0.4760; group × drug, F(1,47) = 0.0995, P = 0.7538). f The paradigm of Mor-CPP in AAV-infection mice. AAV9-hSyn-EGFP- NC and neuronal specific AAV9-hSyn-EGFP-shHIF-1α were injected into PFC 21 days before CPP performance, Rox (20 μmol/L, 2 μL per site) was injected 2 h before morphine injection every day in conditioning phase. g Knockdown of HIF-1α abolished Rox efficiency in inhibiting Mor-CPP acquisition (NC-Veh-Mor, n = 10; sh-HIF-1α-Veh-Mor, n = 10; NC-Rox+Mor, n = 9; sh-HIF-1α-Rox+Mor, n = 11; group, F(1,36) = 3.829, P = 0.0581; drug, F(1,36) = 7.412, P = 0.0099; group × drug, F(1,36) = 4.404, P = 0.0429). Values are presented as means ± SEM. Statistical analysis for a, and for b-e and g were performed using one-way ANOVA and two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni-corrected tests, respectively. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001; NS: not significant