Figure 3.
Overexpression of CA-Lyn in the mesolimbic system blocks ethanol-induced increase of DA in the NAc. Mice were stereotaxically microinfused with a lentivirus expressing LV-CA-Lyn (1 × 107 ifu/ml) or LV-ZsGreen (1 × 107 ifu/ml) into the VTA. a, Ten days after infusion, brains were collected and sliced for immunohistochemistry. VTA coronal slices were probed for TH, a specific marker for DAergic neurons (red), and for ZsGreen (green). Scale bar, 50 μm. b, VTA punches were collected 10 d after infusion for Western blot analysis. Active Lyn, Lyn, and GAPDH levels were analyzed by Western blot, as described in Figure 1. b, On the day of the experiment, mice received a systemic administration of ethanol (2 g/kg). The basal levels of DA were 0.74 ± 0.10 nm for the LV-ZsGreen mice and 1.10 ± 0.38 nm for the LV-CA-Lyn mice. The results are expressed as the mean ± SEM of extracellular DA (percentage of baseline). LV-ZsGreen and LV-CA-Lyn, n = 4. *p < 0.05.