Investigator

Contact information:
Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation
914 South 8th Street
D-3 Labs, 860
Minneapolis, MN 55404
Office: (612) 347-5118
lesag002@umn.edu

Mark LeSage, Ph.D., is a behavioral scientist and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation. Dr. LeSage’s research, which focuses on nicotine and tobacco, integrates pharmacokinetics, biochemistry and behavior. He recently received a greant to develop a novel reinforcement strategy to reduce nicotine self-administration in rats.

Selected Recent Publications

1. Lesage MG, Gustaf E, Dufek MB, Pentel PR. Effects of maternal intravenous nicotine administration on locomotor behavior in pre-weanling rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2006 Dec 1; [Epub ahead of print]
2. Pentel PR, Keyler DE, Chen Y, Lesage MG, Dufek MB, Le C, Leslie FM. Vaccination against nicotine does not prevent nicotine-induced changes in fetal nicotinic receptor binding and c-fos mRNA expression in rats. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 2006;28(5):589-96. Epub 2006 Aug 15.
3. Keyler DE, Lesage MG, Dufek MB, Pentel PR. Changes in maternal and fetal nicotine distribution after maternal administration of monoclonal nicotine-specific antibody to rats. Int Immunopharmacol. 2006;6(11):1665-72. Epub 2006 Aug 4.
4. Skott M, Andreassen TT, Ulrich-Vinther M, Chen X, Keyler DE, LeSage MG, Pentel PR, Bechtold JE, Soballe K. Tobacco extract but not nicotine impairs the mechanical strength of fracture healing in rats. J Orthop Res. 2006;24(7):1472-9.
5. LeSage MG, Burroughs D, Pentel PR. Effects of nicotine withdrawal on performance under a progressive-ratio schedule of sucrose pellet delivery in rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2006;83(4):585-91. Epub 2006 Apr 27.
6. LeSage MG, Keyler DE, Pentel PR. Current status of immunologic approaches to treating tobacco dependence: vaccines and nicotine-specific antibodies. AAPS J. 2006;8(1):E65-75. Review. Erratum in: AAPS J. 2006;8(3):E622.
7. Pentel PR, Dufek MB, Roiko SA, Lesage MG, Keyler DE. Differential effects of passive immunization with nicotine-specific antibodies on the acute and chronic distribution of nicotine to brain in rats. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2006;317(2):660-6. Epub 2006 Jan 11.
8. LeSage MG, Keyler DE, Hieda Y, Collins G, et al. Effects of a nicotine conjugate vaccine on the acquisition and maintenance of nicotine self-administration in rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2006;184(3-4):409-16. Epub 2005 Jul 1.
9. Keyler DE, Roiko SA, Benlhabib E, LeSage MG, et al. Monoclonal nicotine-specific antibodies reduce nicotine distribution to brain in rats: dose- and affinity-response relationships. Drug Metab Dispos. 2005;33(7):1056-61. Epub 2005 Apr 20.
10. Keyler DE, Dufek MB, Calvin AD, Bramwell TJ, LeSage MG, et al. Reduced nicotine distribution from mother to fetal brain in rats vaccinated against nicotine: time course and influence of nicotine dosing regimen. Biochem Pharmacol. 2005;69(9):1385-95.
11. LeSage MG, Burroughs D, Dufek M, Keyler DE, and Pentel PR. Reinstatement of nicotine self-administration in rats by presentation of nicotine-paired stimuli, but not nicotine priming. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior. 2004;79(3):507-513.
12. Keyler DE, Shoeman D, LeSage MG, Calvin AD, and Pentel PR. Maternal vaccination against nicotine reduces nicotine distribution to fetal brain in rats. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 2003;305(2):587-592.
13. LeSage MG, Keyler DE, Collins G, and Pentel PR. Effects of continuous nicotine infusion on nicotine self-administration in rats: relationship between continuously infused and self-administered nicotine doses and serum concentrations. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2003;170(3):278-286.
14. LeSage MG, Keyler DE, Shoeman D, Raphael D, Collins G, and Pentel PR. Continuous nicotine infusion reduces nicotine self-administration in rats with 23-h/day access to nicotine. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior. 2002;72(1-2):279-289.