ELENA H. CHARTOFF, PHD

Harvard title(s): Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Email: echartoff@mclean.harvard.edu
Telephone: (617) 855-2022
Fax: (617) 855-2023
Office Address: Behavioral Genetics Laboratory (MRC 218)
Bio: Elena received her B.S. in Biology from Carnegie Mellon University and her Ph.D. in Neurobiology and Behavior from the University of Washington. Her graduate thesis examined the regulation and role of the neuropeptide neurotensin in the striatum of rodent models of psychosis. Elena then trained as a postdoctoral fellow in Bill Carlezon's Behavioral Genetics Laboratory at McLean Hospital where she began her work studying the neurobiological mechanisms underlying depressive-like states triggered by withdrawal from drugs of abuse.

As a postdoc, Elena was awarded an NRSA postdoctoral fellowship from that National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) as well as the Kaneb Fellowship in Psychiatry, which specifically supports research on depression at McLean Hospital. As an independent investigator, Elena has received funding through NIDA and NARSAD.

Research:

The Behavioral Genetics Laboratory
Elena Chartoff Group
(click to enlarge)

Our research focuses on molecular and behavioral correlates of depressive-like states that accompany withdrawal from drugs of abuse in rodents. Alleviation of aversive withdrawal symptoms is thought to be a primary motivation for continued drug taking and relapse. The mesolimbic dopamine system, which includes the nucleus accumbens, plays an important role in both the rewarding and aversive effects of drugs such as morphine and cocaine. We work closely with the Behavioral Genetics Laboratory, directed by Dr. Bill Carlezon and the Molecular Pharmacology Laboratory, directed by Dr. Bruce Cohen, to conduct two primary lines of research. First, we are investigating the role of nucleus accumbens AMPA glutamate receptors in mediating morphine withdrawal-associated aversive states. We assess somatic withdrawal signs, but we focus on the negative affective signs of withdrawal through the use of behavioral assays sensitive to rewarding and aversive states (place conditioning and rewarding brain stimulation). Second, we are studying how kappa opioid receptor systems modulate cocaine reward and cocaine withdrawal-induced depressive-like states. To accomplish this, we are measuring the effects of kappa opioid receptor ligands on acute cocaine reward and on withdrawal from binge cocaine treatments using intracranial rewarding brain stimulation. Together, these studies may lead to an increased understanding of the mechanisms underlying addiction. This work may lead to new pharmacotherapies that can alleviate aversive and dysphoric states associated with drug withdrawal and perhaps reduce relapse to drug taking.
Publications: Pubmed search for "Chartoff E"

Selected references:
- Sekelsky JJ, Newfeld SJ, Raftery LA, Chartoff EH, Gelbart WM. Genetic characterization and cloning of mothers against dpp, a gene required for decapentaplegic function in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics. 1995;139(3):1347-58.
- Adams MR, Brandon EP, Chartoff EH, Idzerda RL, Dorsa DM, McKnight GS. Loss of haloperidol induced gene expression and catalepsy in protein kinase A-deficient mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997;94(22):12157-61.
- Chartoff EH, Ward RP, Dorsa DM. Role of adenosine and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in mediating haloperidol-induced gene expression and catalepsy. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1999;291(2):531-7.
- Chartoff EH, Marck BT, Matsumoto AM, Dorsa DM, Palmiter RD. Induction of stereotypy in dopamine-deficient mice requires striatal D1 receptor activation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001;98(18):10451-6.
- Chartoff EH, Papadopoulou M, Konradi C, Carlezon WA. Dopamine-dependent increases in phosphorylation of cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) during precipitated morphine withdrawal in primary cultures of rat striatum. J Neurochem. 2003;87(1):107-18. PMID: 12969258
- Chartoff EH, Heusner CL, Palmiter RD. Dopamine is not required for the hyperlocomotor response to NMDA receptor antagonists. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2005;30(7):1324-33. PMID: 15688082
- Goussakov I, Chartoff EH, Tsvetkov E, Gerety LP, Meloni EG, Carlezon WA, Bolshakov VY. LTP in the lateral amygdala during cocaine withdrawal. Eur J Neurosci. 2006;23(1):239-50.
- Chartoff EH, Mague SD, Barhight MF, Smith AM, Carlezon WA. Behavioral and molecular effects of dopamine D1 receptor stimulation during naloxone-precipitated morphine withdrawal. J Neurosci. 2006;26(24):6450-7.
- Chartoff EH, Pliakas AM, Carlezon WA. Microinjection of the L-type calcium channel antagonist diltiazem into the ventral nucleus accumbens shell facilitates cocaine-induced conditioned place preferences. Biol Psychiatry. 2006;59(12):1236-9.
- Carlezon WA, Chartoff EH. Intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) in rodents to study the neurobiology of motivation. Nat Protoc. 2007;2(11):2987-95.
- Chartoff EH, Potter D, Damez-Werno D, Cohen BM, Carlezon WA. Exposure to the selective kappa-opioid receptor agonist salvinorin A modulates the behavioral and molecular effects of cocaine in rats. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2008;33(11):2676-87.
- Tomasiewicz HC, Todtenkopf MS, Chartoff EH, Cohen BM, Carlezon WA. The kappa-opioid agonist U69,593 blocks cocaine-induced enhancement of brain stimulation reward. Biol Psychiatry. 2008;64(11):982-8.
- Chartoff EH, Barhight MF, Mague SD, Sawyer AM, Carlezon WA. Anatomically dissociable effects of dopamine D1 receptor agonists on reward and relief of withdrawal in morphine-dependent rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2009;204(2):227-239.
- Kenny PJ, Chartoff E, Roberto M, Carlezon WA, Markou A. NMDA Receptors Regulate Nicotine-Enhanced Brain Reward Function and Intravenous Nicotine Self-Administration: Role of the Ventral Tegmental Area and Central Nucleus of the Amygdala. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2009;34(2):266-281.
- Chartoff EH, Papadopolou M, Macdonald ML, Parsegian A, Potter D, Konradi CL, Carlezon WA. Desipramine reduces stress-activated dynorphin expression and CREB phosphorylation in NAc tissue. Mol Pharmacol. 2009;75(3):704-712.