Synaptic Zn potentiates the effects of cocaine on striatal dopamine neurotransmission and behavior.

Cocaine binds to the dopamine (DA) transporter (DAT) to regulate cocaine reward and seeking behavior. Zinc (Zn) also binds to the DAT, but the in vivo relevance of this interaction is unknown. We found that Zn concentrations in postmortem brain (caudate) tissue from humans who died of cocaine overdose were significantly lower than in control subjects.