Name:
Heidi M.B. Lesscher
Dept. Neuroscience and Pharmacology
Section Neurobiology of Behaviour
Function:
Post-Doc
E-mail:
H.M.B.Lesscher@umcutrecht.nl Tel: +31 88 756 8844
Supervisor:
Dr. L.J.M.J. Vanderschuren
Title research:
Neurogenetic mechanisms of alcoholism.
Summary research:
My research interests evolved from cocaine sensitivity, the topic of my thesis (2004) to the neurogenetics of alcoholism. I am particularly interested in individual (genetic) differences in susceptibility to develop alcoholism and in the neurobiological processes that underlie the development of excessive alcohol use and ultimately alcoholism. As a postdoc at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center (UCSF) in San Francisco I studied the role of amygdala protein kinase C epsilon (PKCε) signalling in anxiety and alcohol consumption, a project that was funded by a Marie Curie Fellowship. I used RNA interference to show that amygdala PKCε controls anxiety through regulation of amygdala CRF (Lesscher et al, 2008). Moreover, using a novel paradigm which we have termed the limited access choice paradigm, I showed that amygdala PKCε signalling is also important for the development of high ethanol intake and preference. With funding from the Brain Foundation of the Netherlands and a VENI grant from ZonMw, my current research projects aim to (1) identify genetic loci for high ethanol intake and/or preference in the limited access choice paradigm and (2) identify and characterize molecular pathways in the amygdala that determine the development of high ethanol intake and preference.
Publications:
H.M.B. Lesscher, M.J. Wallace, L. Zeng, V. Wang, J.K. Deitchman, T. McMahon, R.O. Messing, P.M. Newton, 2009. Amygdala protein kinase C epsilon controls alcohol consumption. Genes Brain and Behavior, in press.
H.M.B. Lesscher, T. McMahon, A.W. Lasek, W.H. Chou, J. Connolly, V. Kharazia,
R.O. Messing, 2008. Amygdala protein kinase C epsilon regulates corticotrophin
releasing factor and anxiety-like behavior. Genes Brain and Behavior, 7(3): 232-233.
D.S. Choi, W. Wei, J.K Deitchman, V.N. Kharazia, H.M.B. Lesscher, T. McMahon, D. Wang, Z.H. Qi, W. Sieghart, C. Zhang, K.M. Shokat, I. Mody, R.O. Messing, 2008. Protein kinase C delta regulates ethanol intoxication and enhancement of GABA-stimulated tonic current. Journal of Neuroscience, 28(46): 11890-11899.
H.M.B. Lesscher, M. Hordijk, N.P. Bondar, O.V. Alekseyenko, J. P.H. Burbach, J.M. van Ree, M.A.F.M. Gerrits, 2005. µ-Opioid receptors are not involved in acute cocaine-induced locomotor activity nor in development of cocaine-induced behavioural sensitization. Neuropsychopharmacology, 30(2): 278-285.
D.S. Mathon, H.M.B. Lesscher, M.A.F.M. Gerrits, A. Kamal, J.E. Pintar, A.G.P. Schuller, M.P. Smidt, B.M. Spruijt, J.P.H. Burbach, M.P. Smidt, J.M. van Ree, G.M.J. Ramakers, 2005. Increased GABAergic input to ventral tegmental area dopaminergic neurons associated with decreased cocaine reinforcement in µ-opioid receptor knockout mice. Neuroscience, 130(2): 359-367.