Chapter 22 - Cocaine and Brain Acid-Sensing Ion Channels

Abstract

Cocaine addiction is a persistent mental illness and there is no effective therapy so far. The precise mechanisms underlying cocaine addictive responses remain unclear. A growing body of evidence suggests that ion channels in the brain reward circuits are believed to play an important role in cocaine addiction. Recently, proton has been identified as a neurotransmitter and one of the candidates for sensing proton is acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs). ASICs are highly expressed in the brain reward circuits. These channels are enriched at synaptic sites and play a critical role in synaptic transmission. Moreover, increasing evidence demonstrates that ASICs contribute to the pathogenesis of various neuropsychiatric disorders including cocaine addiction. Thus, targeting ASICs-dependent neurotransmission represents a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cocaine addiction. In this chapter, we summarize the physiological and pharmacological properties of brain ASICs and their contribution to cocaine addiction.