Protein Analysis from Organelles and Cellular Compartments of Neuronal Populations

Changes in protein content within cellular organelles and subcellular compartments are essential in mediating the action of drugs of abuse and their treatments. Our understanding of drug addiction is limited by the lack of methods that enable isolation of proteins from cellular compartments in neuronal sub-populations. We overcome this by utilizing mice that express tagged ribosomes in defined neuronal types. Using recently-modified protocols for fluorescent-activated sorting or synaptosomal preparations followed by immunoprecipitation, we will isolate proteins from cell nuclei and synaptic compartments of hippocampal inhibitory interneurons and excitatory granule cells. Using the cocaine conditioned place preference paradigm, our study will identify cell-type specific subcellular changes associated with the extinction process.