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REVIEW article

Front. Neurosci.

Sec. Neuropharmacology

Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1670883

This article is part of the Research TopicResearch on Precision Prevention and Treatment of Neurological and Neurodegenerative DiseasesView all 16 articles

Nicotine and Neuronal Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors: Unraveling the Mechanisms of Nicotine Addiction

Provisionally accepted
Jian  JiangJian Jiang1Xia  LiXia Li1An-Fu  HuAn-Fu Hu1GuoJun  ZhouGuoJun Zhou1YiHan  GaoYiHan Gao2Chengyun  XuChengyun Xu3XiMei  WuXiMei Wu4Hongjuan  WangHongjuan Wang5*
  • 1China Tobacco Zhejiang Industrial Co Ltd, Hangzhou, China
  • 2Shanghai New Tobacco Product Research Institute Co Ltd, Shanghai, China
  • 3Hangzhou City University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
  • 4Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
  • 5China National Tobacco Quality Supervision and Test Centre, Zhengzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Nicotine, recognized as the principal addictive component in tobacco, is mechanistically linked to its interaction with neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). nAChRs are ligand-gated ion channels composed of five transmembrane subunits, with the α4β2 receptor subtype being the most common in the brain, playing a crucial role in the behavioral effects of nicotine. When nicotine binds to α4β2 nAChR, it significantly enhances the firing rate and burst firing of dopamine neurons in the brain, thereby activating the mesolimbic dopamine system. This system promotes the formation of nicotine addiction in the early stages of addiction through rewarding sensory stimulation and associative learning. The α4β2 nAChR subunit has been identified as the principal subtype implicated in the pathogenesis of nicotine addiction. However, other nAChRs subtypes also play important roles in the onset and maintenance of nicotine addiction. Understanding the relationship between nicotine addiction and nAChR subtypes is crucial for fully uncovering the neurobiological mechanism behind its addictive properties and lays the foundation for developing more targeted smoking cessation strategies.

Keywords: Nicotine, nAChRs, VTA-NAc, MHb-IPN, Addiction

Received: 22 Jul 2025; Accepted: 30 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Jiang, Li, Hu, Zhou, Gao, Xu, Wu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Hongjuan Wang, redbri2013@163.com

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