Effect of LPS and Nicotine on gene expression in the hippocampus and PFC

Gene expression changes have been identified in the response to immune challenges such as LPS, yet there is little information on whether there are changes in response to nicotine exposure. In order to observe whether nicotine can induce changes at the gene expression level that are consistent with other changes seen in the astrocyte activation response, we performed RNA sequencing on mice exposed to saline, LPS, or nicotine. LPS produced a robust immune response consisten with the literature, and nicotine exposure did not result in many differentially expressed genes. The changes with nicotine were consistent with GWAS data on smoking initiation, and neurotransmitter responses often seen with nicotine exposure. Taken together, this data shows that one dose of nicotine induces small changes in gene expression.