Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) of Upregulated Genes in Cocaine Addiction Reveals miRNAs as Potential Therapeutic Agents

Cocaine addiction is a global health problem that causes substantial damage to the health of addicted individuals around the world. Dopamine synthesizing (DA) neurons in the brain play a vital role in the addiction to cocaine. But the underlying molecular mechanisms that help cocaine exert its addictive effect have not been very well understood. Bioinformatics can be a useful tool in the attempt to broaden our understanding in this area. In the present study, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) was carried out on the upregulated genes from a dataset of DA neurons of post-mortem human brain of cocaine addicts. As a result of this analysis, 3 miRNAs have been identified as having significant influence on transcription of the upregulated genes. These 3 miRNAs hold therapeutic potential for the treatment of cocaine addiction.