Skip to main content

Molecular Mechanisms of Methamphetamine-Induced Neurotoxicity: Insights Obtained Through cDNA Array Analyses

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Book cover Handbook of Neurochemistry and Molecular Neurobiology
  • 578 Accesses

Abstract:

Methamphetamine (METH) is an abused psychostimulant that can cause psychotic symptoms, cognitive and psychomotor deficits, stroke, and death. METH‐induced neurotoxicity includes neural cell death which occurs via processes that resemble apoptosis. We have used cDNA array technology to investigate transcriptional responses that occur in the rodent brain after a toxic dose of the drug. These studies showed that the drug can cause an early pattern of gene induction which is characterized by changes in transcription factors. A more delayed response included changes in the expression of genes involved in DNA repair, regulation of trophic factors, and in cell death pathways. Interestingly, regulation of some of these transcription factors has been shown to be involved in controlling the expression of Fas ligand (FasL) which can trigger apoptosis in a number of models of cell death. Thus, these results indicate that METH can cause some of its degenerative effects, in part, via activation of a receptor‐mediated cell death pathway consequent to multiple transcription factor‐mediated FasL up‐regulation. When taken together, these observations indicate that METH‐induced toxicity results from the balance of pro‐death/protective mechanisms in the rodent brain.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 249.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Abbreviations

AICD:

activity-induced cell death

AP-1:

activator protein-1

AP-site:

apurinic/apyrimidinic site

BER:

base excision repair

DA:

dopamine

DAT:

dopamine transporter

FGF:

fibroblast growth factor

IGF:

insulin growth factor

MMR:

mismatch repair

NER:

nucleotide excision repair

OGG1:

8-oxo-guanine glycosylase-1

ROS:

reactive oxygen species

TGF:

transforming growth factor

TH:

tyrosine hydroxylase

References

  • Ali SF, Imam SZ, Itzhak Y. 2005. Role of peroxynitrite in methamphetamine-induced dopaminergic neurodegeneration and neuroprotection by antioxidants and selective NOS inhibitors. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1053: 97–98.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Andegeko Y, et al. 2001. Nuclear retention of ATM at sites of DNA double strand breaks. J Biol Chem 276: 38224–38230.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Asanuma M, et al. 2004. Specific gene expression and possible involvement of inflammation in methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1025: 69–75.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes DE, Lindahl T. 2004. Repair and genetic consequences of endogenous DNA base damage in mammalian cells. Annu Rev Genet 38: 445–476.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barzilai A, Yamamoto K. 2004. DNA damage responses to oxidative stress. DNA Repair (Amst) 3: 1109–1115.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Beckmann AM, Wilce PA. 1997. Egr transcription factors in the nervous system. Neurochem Int 31: 477–510; discussion 517-476.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Buffenstein A, Heaster J, Ko P. 1999. Chronic psychotic illness from methamphetamine. Am J Psychiatry 156: 662.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cadet JL, Brannock C. 1998. Free radicals and the pathobiology of brain dopamine systems. Neurochem Int 32: 117–131.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cadet JL, et al. 2001. Temporal profiling of methamphetamine-induced changes in gene expression in the mouse brain: Evidence from cDNA array. Synapse 41: 40–48.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cadet JL, McCoy MT, Ladenheim B. 2002. Distinct gene expression signatures in the striata of wild-type and heterozygous c-fos knockout mice following methamphetamine administration: Evidence from cDNA array analyses. Synapse 44: 211–226.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cadet JL, Ordonez SV, Ordonez JV. 1997. Methamphetamine induces apoptosis in immortalized neural cells: Protection by the proto-oncogene, bcl-2. Synapse 25: 176–184.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dalton TP, Shertzer HG, Puga A. 1999. Regulation of gene expression by reactive oxygen. Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol 39: 67–101.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Deng X, Cadet JL. 1999. Methamphetamine administration causes overexpression of nNOS in the mouse striatum. Brain Res 851: 254–257.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Deng X, Cadet JL. 2000. Methamphetamine-induced apoptosis is attenuated in the striata of copper-zinc superoxide dismutase transgenic mice. Brain Res Mol Brain Res 83: 121–124.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Deng X, et al. 2002. Methamphetamine induces apoptosis in an immortalized rat striatal cell line by activating the mitochondrial cell death pathway. Neuropharmacology 42: 837–845.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Deng X, Ladenheim B, Tsao LI, Cadet JL. 1999. Null mutation of c-fos causes exacerbation of methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity. J Neurosci 19: 10107–10115.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Dore G, Sweeting M. 2006. Drug-induced psychosis associated with crystalline methamphetamine. Australas Psychiatry 14: 86–89.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dosch J, Kaina B. 1996. Induction of c-fos, c-jun, junB and junD mRNA and AP-1 by alkylating mutagens in cells deficient and proficient for the DNA repair protein O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) and its relationship to cell death, mutation induction and chromosomal instability. Oncogene 13: 1927–1935.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Droin NM, Pinkoski MJ, Dejardin E, Green DR. 2003. Egr family members regulate nonlymphoid expression of Fas ligand, TRAIL, and tumor necrosis factor during immune responses. Mol Cell Biol 23: 7638–7647.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Eisch AJ, Schmued LC, Marshall JF. 1998. Characterizing cortical neuron injury with Fluoro-Jade labeling after a neurotoxic regimen of methamphetamine. Synapse 30: 329–333.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eisen MB, Spellman PT, Brown PO, Botstein D. 1998. Cluster analysis and display of genome-wide expression patterns. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95: 14863–14868.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Farrell M, Marsden J, Ali R, Ling W. 2002. Methamphetamine: Drug use and psychoses becomes a major public health issue in the Asia Pacific region. Addiction 97: 771–772.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fortini P, et al. 2003. 8-Oxoguanine DNA damage: At the crossroad of alternative repair pathways. Mutat Res 531: 127–139.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fumagalli F, et al. 1999. Increased methamphetamine neurotoxicity in heterozygous vesicular monoamine transporter 2 knock-out mice. J Neurosci 19: 2424–2431.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fung H, Demple B. 2005. A vital role for Ape1/Ref1 protein in repairing spontaneous DNA damage in human cells. Mol Cell 17: 463–470.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gros L, Saparbaev MK, Laval J. 2002. Enzymology of the repair of free radicals-induced DNA damage. Oncogene 21: 8905–8925.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Haas S, Kaina B. 1995. c-Fos is involved in the cellular defence against the genotoxic effect of UV radiation. Carcinogenesis 16: 985–991.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey DC, Lacan G, Tanious SP, Melega WP. 2000. Recovery from methamphetamine induced long-term nigrostriatal dopaminergic deficits without substantia nigra cell loss. Brain Res 871: 259–270.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • He J, et al. 2004. Neuroprotective effects of olanzapine on methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity are associated with an inhibition of hyperthermia and prevention of Bcl-2 decrease in rats. Brain Res 1018: 186–192.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hirata H, Cadet JL. 1997. p53-knockout mice are protected against the long-term effects of methamphetamine on dopaminergic terminals and cell bodies. J Neurochem 69: 780–790.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hutsell SQ, Sancar A. 2005. Nucleotide excision repair, oxidative damage, DNA sequence polymorphisms, and cancer treatment. Clin Cancer Res 11: 1355–1357.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Imam SZ, et al. 2001. Methamphetamine-induced alteration in striatal p53 and bcl-2 expressions in mice. Brain Res Mol Brain Res 91: 174–178.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Itzhak Y, Martin JL, Ail SF. 2000. nNOS inhibitors attenuate methamphetamine-induced dopaminergic neurotoxicity but not hyperthermia in mice. Neuroreport 11: 2943–2946.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jayanthi S, et al. 2001. Methamphetamine causes differential regulation of pro-death and anti-death Bcl-2 genes in the mouse neocortex. FASEB J 15: 1745–1752.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jayanthi S, et al. 2004. Methamphetamine induces neuronal apoptosis via cross-talks between endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria-dependent death cascades. FASEB J 18: 238–251.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jayanthi S, et al. 2005. Calcineurin/NFAT-induced up-regulation of the Fas ligand/Fas death pathway is involved in methamphetamine-induced neuronal apoptosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102: 868–873.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Jayanthi S, Ladenheim B, Cadet JL. 1998. Methamphetamine-induced changes in antioxidant enzymes and lipid peroxidation in copper/zinc-superoxide dismutase transgenic mice. Ann N Y Acad Sci 844: 92–102.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jayanthi S, McCoy MT, Ladenheim B, Cadet JL. 2002. Methamphetamine causes coordinate regulation of SRC, cas, crk, and the jun N-terminal kinase-jun pathway. Mol Pharmacol 61: 1124–1131.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston L, O'Malley PM, Bachman JG, Schulenberg J. 2006. Monitoring the future national results on adolescent drug use: Overview of key findings, 2005. Bethesda, MD: (NIH Publication No. 06-5882).

    Google Scholar 

  • Krasnova IN, McCoy MT, Ladenheim B, Cadet JL. 2002. cDNA array analysis of gene expression profiles in the striata of wild-type and Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase transgenic mice treated with neurotoxic doses of amphetamine. FASEB J 16: 1379–1388.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lackinger D, Eichhorn U, Kaina B. 2001. Effect of ultraviolet light, methyl methanesulfonate and ionizing radiation on the genotoxic response and apoptosis of mouse fibroblasts lacking c-Fos, p53 or both. Mutagenesis 16: 233–241.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Latinis KM, Norian LA, Eliason SL, Koretzky GA. 1997. Two NFAT transcription factor binding sites participate in the regulation of CD95 (Fas) ligand expression in activated human T cells. J Biol Chem 272: 31427–31434.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • La Voie MJ, Hastings TG. 1999. Dopamine quinone formation and protein modification associated with the striatal neurotoxicity of methamphetamine: Evidence against a role for extracellular dopamine. J Neurosci 19: 1484–1491.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li Y, Trush MA. 1993. DNA damage resulting from the oxidation of hydroquinone by copper: Role for a Cu(II)/Cu(I) redox cycle and reactive oxygen generation. Carcinogenesis 14: 1303–1311.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Li-Weber M, Krammer PH. 2002. The death of a T-cell: Expression of the CD95 ligand. Cell Death Differ 9: 101–103.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Li-Weber M, Laur O, Krammer PH. 1999. Novel Egr/NF-AT composite sites mediate activation of the CD95 (APO-1/Fas) ligand promoter in response to T cell stimulation. Eur J Immunol 29: 3017–3027.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Locksley RM, Killeen N, Lenardo MJ. 2001. The TNF and TNF receptor superfamilies: Integrating mammalian biology. Cell 104: 487–501.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • London ED, et al. 2004. Mood disturbances and regional cerebral metabolic abnormalities in recently abstinent methamphetamine abusers. Arch Gen Psychiatry 61: 73–84.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lotharius J, et al. 2005. Progressive degeneration of human mesencephalic neuron-derived cells triggered by dopamine-dependent oxidative stress is dependent on the mixed-lineage kinase pathway. J Neurosci 25: 6329–6342.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Macian F, Garcia-Rodriguez C, Rao A. 2000. Gene expression elicited by NFAT in the presence or absence of cooperative recruitment of Fos and Jun. EMBO J 19: 4783–4795.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Matsuoka M, Wispriyono B, Igisu H. 2000. Increased cytotoxicity of cadmium in fibroblasts lacking c-fos. Biochem Pharmacol 59: 1573–1576.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McCann UD, et al. 1998. Reduced striatal dopamine transporter density in abstinent methamphetamine and methcathinone users: Evidence from positron emission tomography studies with [11C]WIN-35,428. J Neurosci 18: 8417–8422.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mittelstadt PR, Ashwell JD. 1999. Role of Egr-2 in up-regulation of Fas ligand in normal T cells and aberrant double-negative lpr and gld T cells. J Biol Chem 274: 3222–3227.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nagata S. 1999. Fas ligand-induced apoptosis. Annu Rev Genet 33: 29–55.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O'Dell SJ, Marshall JF. 2000. Repeated administration of methamphetamine damages cells in the somatosensory cortex: Overlap with cytochrome oxidase-rich barrels. Synapse 37: 32–37.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pennypacker K. 1997. Transcription factors in brain injury. Histol Histopathol 12: 1125–1133.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Prolla TA, et al. 1994. MLH1, PMS1, and MSH2 interactions during the initiation of DNA mismatch repair in yeast. Science 265: 1091–1093.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu J, et al. 2002. Upregulation of the Fas receptor death-inducing signaling complex after traumatic brain injury in mice and humans. J Neurosci 22: 3504–3511.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ramana CV, Boldogh I, Izumi T, Mitra S. 1998. Activation of apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease in human cells by reactive oxygen species and its correlation with their adaptive response to genotoxicity of free radicals. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95: 5061–5066.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ricaurte GA, Schuster CR, Seiden LS. 1980. Long-term effects of repeated methylamphetamine administration on dopamine and serotonin neurons in the rat brain: A regional study. Brain Res 193: 153–163.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Salzmann J, et al. 2003. Importance of ERK activation in behavioral and biochemical effects induced by MDMA in mice. Br J Pharmacol 140: 831–838.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Saparbaev M, Prakash L, Prakash S. 1996. Requirement of mismatch repair genes MSH2 and MSH3 in the RAD1–RAD10 pathway of mitotic recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Genetics 142: 727–736.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Scanlon KJ, et al. 1991. Ribozyme-mediated cleavage of c-fos mRNA reduces gene expression of DNA synthesis enzymes and metallothionein. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88: 10591–10595.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sekine Y, et al. 2001. Methamphetamine-related psychiatric symptoms and reduced brain dopamine transporters studied with PET. Am J Psychiatry 158: 1206–1214.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sekine Y, et al. 2003. Association of dopamine transporter loss in the orbitofrontal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices with methamphetamine-related psychiatric symptoms. Am J Psychiatry 160: 1699–1701.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sekine Y, et al. 2006. Brain serotonin transporter density and aggression in abstinent methamphetamine abusers. Arch Gen Psychiatry 63: 90–100.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shaulian E, Karin M. 2002. AP-1 as a regulator of cell life and death. Nat Cell Biol 4: E131–E136.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Slupphaug G, Kavli B, Krokan HE. 2003. The interacting pathways for prevention and repair of oxidative DNA damage. Mutat Res 531: 231–251.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sonsalla PK, Nicklas WJ, Heikkila RE. 1989. Role for excitatory amino acids in methamphetamine-induced nigrostriatal dopaminergic toxicity. Science 243: 398–400.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Staszewski RD, Yamamoto BK. 2006. Methamphetamine-induced spectrin proteolysis in the rat striatum. J Neurochem 96: 1267–1276.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stumm G, et al. 1999. Amphetamines induce apoptosis and regulation of bcl-x splice variants in neocortical neurons. FASEB J 13: 1065–1072.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Suzuki YJ. 2003. Growth factor signaling for cardioprotection against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis. Antioxid Redox Signal 5: 741–749.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tanos T, et al. 2005. Phosphorylation of c-Fos by members of the p38 MAPK family. Role in the AP-1 response to UV light. J Biol Chem 280: 18842–18852.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thiel G, Cibelli G. 2002. Regulation of life and death by the zinc finger transcription factor Egr-1. J Cell Physiol 193: 287–292.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thiriet N, Zwiller J, Ali SF. 2001. Induction of the immediate early genes egr-1 and c-fos by methamphetamine in mouse brain. Brain Res 919: 31–40.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas DM, Francescutti-Verbeem DM, Liu X, Kuhn DM. 2004. Identification of differentially regulated transcripts in mouse striatum following methamphetamine treatment—an oligonucleotide microarray approach. J Neurochem 88: 380–393.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tomkinson AE, Mackey ZB. 1998. Structure and function of mammalian DNA ligases. Mutat Res 407: 1–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Toth R, et al. 2001. Activation-induced apoptosis and cell surface expression of Fas (CD95) ligand are reciprocally regulated by retinoic acid receptor α and γ and involve nur77 in T cells. Eur J Immunol 31: 1382–1391.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Valko M, et al. 2004. Role of oxygen radicals in DNA damage and cancer incidence. Mol Cell Biochem 266: 37–56.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Varon R, et al. 1998. Nibrin, a novel DNA double-strand break repair protein, is mutated in Nijmegen breakage syndrome. Cell 93: 467–476.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Volkow ND, et al. 2001a. Loss of dopamine transporters in methamphetamine abusers recovers with protracted abstinence. J Neurosci 21: 9414–9418.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Volkow ND, et al. 2001b. Association of dopamine transporter reduction with psychomotor impairment in methamphetamine abusers. Am J Psychiatry 158: 377–382.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner GC, et al. 1980. Long-lasting depletions of striatal dopamine and loss of dopamine uptake sites following repeated administration of methamphetamine. Brain Res 181: 151–160.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this entry

Cite this entry

Jayanthi, S., McCoy, M.T., Cadet, J.L. (2007). Molecular Mechanisms of Methamphetamine-Induced Neurotoxicity: Insights Obtained Through cDNA Array Analyses. In: Lajtha, A., Youdim, M.B.H., Riederer, P., Mandel, S.A., Battistin, L. (eds) Handbook of Neurochemistry and Molecular Neurobiology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30377-2_10

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics