GluN3 Expression in Male Rats at 55 Days Withdrawal from Chronic Intermittent Ethanol Exposure
Description
Substance use disorders are chronic health disorders that affect millions throughout the United States, placing a high burden on our healthcare system. Understanding how substance use disorders develop and are maintained across the life span of individuals will aid in the development of treatment plans and possible therapeutics for withdrawal. It is known that during withdrawal from drug use, functional alterations in the brain occur that predispose or accentuate an individual’s risk to return to that specific drug use. The current study seeks to identify if any alterations in the structure of neuron synapses play a role in the development or expression of these functional increases. As such, we are exploring the expression of Grid1 protein, a delta-1 type glutamate receptor that plays a role in the formation of synaptic contacts between neurons. We hypothesize that Grid1 is dynamically regulated in response to withdrawal state dependent alterations in glutamate receptor function. To conduct these studies, 18 male rats were exposed to ethanol vapor and then placed into forced abstinence of 55 days. The rat’s basolateral amygdalas were extracted and treated with sulfo-NHS-S-S Biotin to label extracellular proteins. Using western blot techniques and Grid1 antibodies, we measured the relative amount of protein expression in our samples in comparison to control animals using t-tests (p< 0.05 for significance). Preliminary results are still being calculated. These data will be combined across a range of withdrawal times to gain a clearer understanding of how Grid1 expression is regulated during ethanol withdrawal.
Citation Information
Eberhard, Joshua; Giles, Jennifer; Boyer, Michael; and Christian, Daniel T., "GluN3 Expression in Male Rats at 55 Days Withdrawal from Chronic Intermittent Ethanol Exposure" (2026). Office of Research DMU Research Symposium. 62.
https://digitalcommons.dmu.edu/researchsymposium/2025rs/2025abstracts/62
GluN3 Expression in Male Rats at 55 Days Withdrawal from Chronic Intermittent Ethanol Exposure
Substance use disorders are chronic health disorders that affect millions throughout the United States, placing a high burden on our healthcare system. Understanding how substance use disorders develop and are maintained across the life span of individuals will aid in the development of treatment plans and possible therapeutics for withdrawal. It is known that during withdrawal from drug use, functional alterations in the brain occur that predispose or accentuate an individual’s risk to return to that specific drug use. The current study seeks to identify if any alterations in the structure of neuron synapses play a role in the development or expression of these functional increases. As such, we are exploring the expression of Grid1 protein, a delta-1 type glutamate receptor that plays a role in the formation of synaptic contacts between neurons. We hypothesize that Grid1 is dynamically regulated in response to withdrawal state dependent alterations in glutamate receptor function. To conduct these studies, 18 male rats were exposed to ethanol vapor and then placed into forced abstinence of 55 days. The rat’s basolateral amygdalas were extracted and treated with sulfo-NHS-S-S Biotin to label extracellular proteins. Using western blot techniques and Grid1 antibodies, we measured the relative amount of protein expression in our samples in comparison to control animals using t-tests (p< 0.05 for significance). Preliminary results are still being calculated. These data will be combined across a range of withdrawal times to gain a clearer understanding of how Grid1 expression is regulated during ethanol withdrawal.
