Molecule may be key to nicotine addiction :: essays research papers

A single molecule may be partially to blame for nicotines addictive allure, a finding that lookers say could hold in to potential therapies to help millions of massrs quit a life-threatening habit.More than 4 million people around the globe 440,000 of them Americans die from smoking-related causes each year. And, the nicotine-laced smoke damages more than just their lungs.The California researchers not only pinpointed a molecule responsible for nicotine addiction, they as well created specialized mice to make it easier to search for otherwise molecules impacted by nicotine addiction.The research team started by fiddling with a single gene to create mice that were hypersensitive to nicotine. The genetically engineered mice were tripped up by the tiniest exposure to nicotine a concentration 1/50th of the strength of nicotine get across through a typical smokers blood. Once hooked, the mice go through classic signs of nicotine dependence that keep smokers puffing, the researc h team reports Friday in the diary Science.Dependence-related behaviors, including reward, tolerance, and sensitization, occur strongly and at remarkably low nicotine doses in the mice, the research team wrote.In humans, reward arrives as a pleasant bitty jolt of dopamine, a calming brain chemical unleashed by nicotine. The tree trunks tolerance for the drug leads to more smoking. Sensitization means not feeling good without a nicotine fix, said Henry Lester, a biological science professor at the California Institute of Technology who was among the papers 10 authors. In mice, researchers saw reward when mice chose nicotine hits over salt, changed body temperatures as evidence of tolerance and more running around among sensitized mice. new(prenominal) researchers praised the study.The findings not only provide direct evidence of how nicotine promotes dependence, but also raise fundamental questions about the genetics of addiction, researchers at the Centre checkup Universitaire, in Geneva, Switzerland, wrote in a companion piece.Could drugs fight addiction?If the findings in mice hold true for humans, the work points to a specific target for a new drug to attack, others suggest.People become dependent on nicotine when it put in nerve cell receptors designed for the chemical acetylcholine. Once nicotine considers that space, dopamine is released. By knowing the specific parking place where nicotine can demand a high toll, a drug could be fashioned to fill it.The power lies in the ability to be so specific. In being so specific, you can treat the cause without the ramifications of the side effects, said Stephen L.