Buczek, Laura2024-04-302024-04-302022-01https://hdl.handle.net/11299/262844University of Minnesota M.S. thesis. January 2022. Major: Neuroscience. Advisor: Sade Spencer. 1 computer file (PDF); iii, 26 pages.Cocaine use induces changes in the brain’s structure and function inducing long-lasting changes in behavior and cognition. There are no FDA approved treatments for cocaine use disorder. Investigating cocaine-induced neuroadaptations, specifically changes in brain protein expression and function, will inform molecular targets for future therapeutic drug development. Two proteins, glial glutamate transporter 1 (GLT-1) and phosphorylated adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (pAMPK) are downregulated upon cocaine exposure. It is unknown whether AMPK, expressed in neurons and astrocytes, regulates GLT-1 in the striatum in a cell-specific manner. I will first determine how astrocyte-specific manipulation of striatal AMPK impacts GLT-1 expression and function in the striatum. I will then determine whether the same astrocytic AMPK manipulations influence cocaine locomotor sensitization and acquisition of cocaine self-administration.enaddictionAMPKcocaineGLT-1Thesis or Dissertation