Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Feb 27.
Published in final edited form as: Cell Rep. 2020 Feb 11;30(6):2018–2027.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.01.023

Figure 2. Chemogenetic Stimulation of VP Neurons Augments Extinction- and Cue-Induced Cocaine Seeking.

Figure 2.

(A) Outline of the protocol used in the chemogenetic and miniscope Ca2+ imaging experiments. (B) Representative example of non-selective Gq-DREADD expression in the VP. ac, anterior commissure; BST, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis; cc, corpus callosum; DBH, diagonal horizontal band of Broca; f, fornix; ic, interior commissure; IPAC, interstitial nucleus of the posterior anterior commissure; lv, lateral ventricle; POA, preoptic area; SI, substantia innominata. Scale bar, 500 um. mCitrine expression is pseudocolored red for clarity. Substance P (green) was used as a counterstain to outline the borders of the VP.

(C) Cocaine self-administration and extinction in wild-type mice expressing Gq-DREADD in VP neurons.

(D and E) Simultaneously stimulating all VP neurons prior to a late extinction session (Ext) (D) or cue seeking in mice transduced with Gq DREADD in VP neurons (E) increased cocaine seeking.

Data are presented as mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05 comparing vehicle and CNO (active), +p < 0.05 comparing extinction and cue seeking (active), and #p < 0.05 comparing vehicle and CNO (inactive).