Kenny, Paul J. “Mechanisms of Nicotine Addiction.” Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine, 2020. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine, http://perspectivesinmedicine.cshlp.org/content/11/5/a039610.full

 

In this article, Paul J Kenny, a neuroscientist at Mount Sinai, discusses the role of specific acetylcholine receptors, also referred to as nAChRs, in nicotine addiction. These are ligand gated channels that receive the neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, that respond to nicotine. There’s a specific gene, α4β2 (4 Alpha 2 Beta) that is expressed in mice that has been shown to increase susceptibility to nicotine addiction. This research can be applied to people searching for rehabilitation techniques.

 

Dr. Kenny is identifying very specific individual nicotine receptors to further get at the root of nicotine addiction. This is helpful in developing treatments, as specific receptors can be targeted. There’s an overview in the beginning that explains the general findings of the experiments, and it goes into further depth later on. 

 

This is going to be relevant to my senior project because I’ll be further investigating these receptors in the lab. Specifically, I’ll be taking blots and slices of the different halves of the brain. In addition, this article includes the slicing techniques I’ll be learning. This will be a great resource, because it’s a journal article by the PI at my lab. Therefore, I can use this as a resource for the research I’ll be assisting in!

 

Wills, Lauren. “Neurobiological Mechanisms of Nicotine Reward and Aversion.” National Library of Science, 2022. Pubmed, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35017179/.

 

In this article, one of the postdocs I’ll be helping out, Lauren Wills, is explaining her investigation of nAChRs nicotine receptors. Specifically, she’s discussing the areas of the brain where these receptors are found. These areas include medial habenula, interpeduncular nucleus, and nucleus of the solitary tract, brain sites in which α5 nAChR subunits are also expressed. There are also reward pathways at play that deal with the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. 

 

The more in depth explanations of the brain regions involved in nAChRs nicotine receptors is helpful in aiding further scientific exploration. This is because, in rodent brains, it’s important to look in the right places for data and evidence. It also contextualizes the nAChrs receptors, providing more information about their place in the brain. 

 

This is helpful, not only because of the information, but because it’s written by the person I’ll be working for. This will give me further information about her research before I go into the lab. I’m also going to be getting credit for the journals I assist in, so it’s cool to see what a published one looks like. Also, these terms and brain regions will assist me when I’m slicing specific pieces of the brain for research. 

 

Papouin, Thomas. “Obtaining Acute Brain Slices.” National Library of Science, 2018. Pubmed, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5856250/.

 

This article discusses the techniques for taking acute brain slices from mice. There are a few different materials necessary, such as scissors, a scalpel, and a dropper bulb. This article goes into depth about the procedures for dissecting and cutting into the brain. Firstly, it explains how to extract the brain from the mouse. Then, it goes into the process of obtaining brain slices. For example, the article discusses that with a razor blade, one must remove the unwanted parts of the brain, rostral and caudal to the region of interest. In the case of the hippocampus (an area that I’ll be looking at) it’s important to place the brain ventral side down, locate the superior colliculi, make a transverse cut and discard the caudal part.

 

An extremely comprehensive guide and beginning to learning about brain slicing, this article is helpful for people who are working in neuroscience research labs.

 

I’ll be able to utilize this so that I can have some prior knowledge before entering the lab. While the scientists will be training me, it would be nice to know what I’m getting into. I’ve been informed that I’ll be employing many of these techniques when in the lab, so this will be an invaluable resource. 

 

Brain slice electrophysiology video protocol. 2019. Youtube, Abcam, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzSc4oJupO0.

 

This video shows how to do neuron counts in brain slices. One must Place the brain into pre pre-cooled ACSF solution and then Mount the brain, cerebellum side, onto the microtome specimen disk using superglue. Then, you must Fill the electrode filler with the intracellular solution to fabricate a glass recording pipette by using appropriate glass capillaries and pipette puller. Then, one tests the electrophysiology of the brain slice by pricking it with a needle and recording the levels. 

 

Different from the previous article about taking brain slices, this video shows how to test them. There’s a lot of graphing involved in order to test the electrophysiology, which can provide insights into neuron counts and ion channels. It’s very comprehensive because it’s a video, so I can always refer back to it if I’m curious about a specific aspect of my work. 

 

Again, I can utilize this video so that I can have some prior knowledge before entering the lab. Because I don’t have any experience in this work, it will be helpful to know the terminology. For example, knowing what electrophysiology (the branch of physiology that deals with the electrical phenomena associated with nervous and other bodily activity) will definitely help!

 

Martin, Lea M. “A Review of the Effects of Nicotine on Social Functioning.” PubMed, 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6162172/#:~:text=Overall%20Effect%20of%20Nicotine%20on,decreasing%20negative%20aspects%20of%20functioning.

 

This article discusses the social effects on nicotine addiction, which is interesting when comparing it with the biological factors. As more medical research has come out about the harmful effects of smoking, ​​there has developed a certain social stigma around it. In this article, the research found that socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers had less access to education about the harmful effects, and therefore there was less of a stigma. However, the stigma has proven to help dissuade people from smoking. Those who experience low levels of social stigma are less likely to quit smoking. 

 

This makes it clear that, while there are genetic biomarkers that can indicate risk of nicotine addiction, there’s also social factors as well. Specifically, disadvantaged communities are more likely to be affected by nicotine addiction. Education also plays a large role in this problem, as stigma has been shown to be an effective discussion tool. 

 

I’ll need to keep this research in mind when I’m doing my project, so that I can think about the nuance and sociological context behind what I’ll be looking into. In addition, as I continue to go through my project, I’d love to learn more about the connection between biological and sociological factors. Overall, this will be a very helpful article when I’m beginning my project!