By sequencing PSD-localized, cocaine-regulated striatal microRNAs, we previously identified miR-8 family members as key players in the response to cocaine (Eipper-Mains et al., 2011). Although the miR-8 family has primarily been studied for its role in cancer progression and metastasis, we verified cocaine regulation of two bioinformatically-predicted cadherin family targets (Eipper-Mains et al., 2011). We identified over forty cocaine-regulated cadherin and protocadherin transcripts; genes from the Pcdhβ cluster were primarily up-regulated following cocaine in both a transient and sustained fashion (Clusters i-iii), whereas genes from the Pcdhγ cluster were exclusively found to undergo a sustained down-regulation following cocaine exposure (Cluster v).
