Importance of ERK activation in behavioral and biochemical effects induced by MDMA in mice
British Journal of Pharmacology October 29, 2003 Julie Salzmann, Cynthia Marie‐claire, Stéphanie Le Guen et al. 120 citations
The ras-dependent protein kinase ERK pathway plays a role in the rewarding and locomotor effects of MDMA (ecstasy) in mice. Repeated MDMA treatment at 9 mg/kg (but not 3 or 6 mg/kg) induced conditioned place preference, a measure of reward, and increased locomotor activity; both effects were blocked by an inhibitor of ERK activation. MDMA also increased transcription of the immediate early gene c-fos in the caudate putamen, nucleus accumbens, and hippocampus, and of egr-1 and egr-3 in the caudate putamen. The ERK inhibitor suppressed these gene expression changes only in the caudate putamen, indicating that other signaling pathways regulate immediate early gene transcription elsewhere.