Plasticity in striatal dopamine release is governed by release-independent depression and the dopamine transporter.

Mesostriatal dopaminergic neurons possess extensively branched axonal arbours. Whether action potentials are converted to dopamine output in the striatum will be influenced dynamically and critically by axonal properties and mechanisms that are poorly understood. Here, we address the roles for mechanisms governing release probability and axonal activity in determining short-term plasticity of dopamine release, using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry in the ex vivo mouse striatum. We show that brief short-term facilitation and longer short term depression are only weakly dependent on the level of initial release, i.e. are release insensitive. Rather, short-term plasticity is strongly determined by mechanisms which govern axonal activation, including K+-gated excitability and the dopamine transporter, particularly in the dorsal striatum. We identify the dopamine transporter as a master regulator of dopamine short-term plasticity, governing the balance between release-dependent and independent mechanisms that also show region-specific gating.

Inhibition of Nigrostriatal Dopamine Release by Striatal GABAA and GABAB Receptors.

Nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) is critical to action selection and learning. Axonal DA release is locally influenced by striatal neurotransmitters. Striatal neurons are principally GABAergic projection neurons and interneurons, and a small minority of other neurons are cholinergic interneurons (ChIs). ChIs strongly gate striatal DA release via nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) identified on DA axons. Striatal GABA is thought to modulate DA, but GABA receptors have not been documented conclusively on DA axons. However, ChIs express GABA receptors and are therefore candidates for potential mediators of GABA regulation of DA. We addressed whether striatal GABA and its receptors can modulate DA release directly, independently from ChI regulation, by detecting DA in striatal slices from male mice using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry in the absence of nAChR activation. DA release evoked by single electrical pulses in the presence of the nAChR antagonist dihydro-ß-erythroidine was reduced by GABA or agonists of GABAA or GABAB receptors, with effects prevented by selective GABA receptor antagonists. GABA agonists slightly modified the frequency sensitivity of DA release during short stimulus trains. GABA agonists also suppressed DA release evoked by optogenetic stimulation of DA axons. Furthermore, antagonists of GABAA and GABAB receptors together, or GABAB receptors alone, significantly enhanced DA release evoked by either optogenetic or electrical stimuli. These results indicate that striatal GABA can inhibit DA release through GABAA and GABAB receptors and that these actions are not mediated by cholinergic circuits. Furthermore, these data reveal that there is a tonic inhibition of DA release by striatal GABA operating through predominantly GABAB receptors.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The principal inhibitory transmitter in the mammalian striatum, GABA, is thought to modulate striatal dopamine (DA) release, but definitive evidence for GABA receptors on DA axons is lacking. Striatal cholinergic interneurons regulate DA release via axonal nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) and also express GABA receptors, but they have not been eliminated as potentially critical mediators of DA regulation by GABA. Here, we found that GABAA and GABAB receptors inhibit DA release without requiring cholinergic interneurons. Furthermore, ambient levels of GABA inhibited DA release predominantly through GABAB receptors. These findings provide further support for direct inhibition of DA release by GABA receptors and reveal that striatal GABA operates a tonic inhibition on DA output that could critically influence striatal output.

Striatal dopamine transmission is reduced after chronic nicotine with a decrease in α6-nicotinic receptor control in nucleus accumbens.

Nicotine directly regulates striatal dopamine (DA) neurotransmission via presynaptic nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) that are α6ß2 and/or α4ß2 subunit-containing, depending on region. Chronic nicotine exposure in smokers upregulates striatal nAChR density, with some reports suggesting differential impact on α6- or α4-containing nAChRs. Here, we explored whether chronic nicotine exposure modifies striatal DA transmission, whether the effects of acute nicotine on DA release probability persist and whether there are modifications to the regulation of DA release by α6-subunit-containing (*) relative to non-α6* nAChRs in nucleus accumbens (NAc) and in caudate-putamen (CPu). We detected electrically evoked DA release at carbon-fiber microelectrodes in striatal slices from mice exposed for 4-8 weeks to nicotine (200 µg/mL in saccharin-sweetened drinking water) or a control saccharin solution. Chronic nicotine exposure subtly reduced striatal DA release evoked by single electrical pulses, and in NAc enhanced the range of DA release evoked by different frequencies. Effects of acute nicotine (500 nm) on DA release probability and its sensitivity to activity were apparent. However, in NAc there was downregulation of the functional dominance of α6-nAChRs (α6α4ß2ß3), and an emergence in function of non-α6* nAChRs. In CPu, there was no change in the control of DA release by its α6 nAChRs (α6ß2ß3) relative to non-α6. These data suggest that chronic nicotine subtly modifies the regulation of DA transmission, which, in NAc, is through downregulation of function of a susceptible population of α6α4ß2ß3 nAChRs. This imbalance in function of α6:non-α6 nAChRs might contribute to DA dysregulation in nicotine addiction.

Inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate drives glutamatergic and cholinergic inhibition selectively in spiny projection neurons in the striatum.

The striatum is critically involved in the selection of appropriate actions in a constantly changing environment. The spiking activity of striatal spiny projection neurons (SPNs), driven by extrinsic glutamatergic inputs, is shaped by local GABAergic and cholinergic networks. For example, it is well established that different types of GABAergic interneurons, activated by extrinsic glutamatergic and local cholinergic inputs, mediate powerful feedforward inhibition of SPN activity. In this study, using mouse striatal slices, we show that glutamatergic and cholinergic inputs exert direct inhibitory regulation of SPN activity via activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. While pressure ejection of the group I mGluR (mGluR1/5) agonist DHPG [(S)-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine] equally engages both mGluR1 and mGluR5 subtypes, the mGluR-dependent component of IPSCs elicited by intrastriatal electrical stimulation is almost exclusively mediated by the mGluR1 subtype. Ca(2+) release from intracellular stores specifically through inositol 1,4,5-triphospahte receptors (IP(3)Rs) and not ryanodine receptors (RyRs) mediates this form of inhibition by gating two types of Ca(2+)-activated K(+) channels (i.e., small-conductance SK channels and large-conductance BK channels). Conversely, spike-evoked Ca(2+) influx triggers Ca(2+) release solely through RyRs to generate SK-dependent slow afterhyperpolarizations, demonstrating functional segregation of IP(3)Rs and RyRs. Finally, IP(3)-induced Ca(2+) release is uniquely observed in SPNs and not in different types of interneurons in the striatum. These results demonstrate that IP(3)-mediated activation of SK and BK channels provides a robust mechanism for glutamatergic and cholinergic inputs to selectively suppress striatal output neuron activity.

Delivery of short interfering ribonucleic acid-complexed magnetic nanoparticles in an oscillating field occurs via caveolae-mediated endocytosis.

Gene delivery technologies to introduce foreign genes into highly differentiated mammalian cells have improved significantly over the last few decades. Relatively new techniques such as magnetic nanoparticle-based gene transfection technology are showing great promise in terms of its high transfection efficiency and wide-ranging research applications. We have developed a novel gene delivery technique, which uses magnetic nanoparticles moving under the influence of an oscillating magnetic array. Herein we successfully introduced short interfering RNA (siRNA) against green fluorescent protein (GFP) or actin into stably-transfected GFP-HeLa cells or wild-type HeLa and rat aortic smooth muscle cells, respectively. This gene silencing technique occurred in a dose- and cell density- dependent manner, as reflected using fluorescence intensity and adhesion assays. Furthermore, using endocytosis inhibitors, we established that these magnetic nanoparticle-nucleic acid complexes, moving across the cell surface under the influence of an oscillating magnet array, enters into the cells via the caveolae-mediated endocytic pathway.

In vivo ethanol experience increases D(2) autoinhibition in the ventral tegmental area.

Alcoholism is characterized by compulsive alcohol intake after a history of chronic consumption. A reduction in mesolimbic dopaminergic transmission observed during abstinence may contribute to the negative affective state that drives compulsive intake. Although previous in vivo recording studies in rodents have demonstrated profound decreases in the firing activity of ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopamine neurons after withdrawal from long-term ethanol exposure, the cellular mechanisms underlying this reduced activity are not well understood. Somatodendritic dopamine release within the VTA exerts powerful feedback inhibition of dopamine neuron activity via stimulation of D(2) autoreceptors and subsequent activation of G protein-gated inwardly rectifying K(+) (GIRK) channels. Here, by performing patch-clamp recordings from putative dopamine neurons in the VTA of mouse brain slices, we show that D(2) receptor/GIRK-mediated inhibition becomes more potent and exhibits less desensitization after withdrawal from repeated in vivo ethanol exposure (2 g/kg, i.p., three times daily for 7 days). In contrast, GABA(B) receptor/GIRK-mediated inhibition and its desensitization are not affected. Chelating cytosolic Ca(2+) with BAPTA augments D(2) inhibition and suppresses its desensitization in control mice, while these effects of BAPTA are occluded in ethanol-treated mice. Furthermore, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP(3))-induced intracellular Ca(2+) release and Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II are selectively involved in the desensitization of D(2), but not GABA(B), receptor signaling. Consistent with this, activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors that are coupled to IP(3) generation leads to cross-desensitization of D(2)/GIRK-mediated responses. We propose that enhancement of D(2) receptor-mediated autoinhibition via attenuation of a Ca(2+)-dependent desensitization mechanism may contribute to the hypodopaminergic state during ethanol withdrawal.

Striatal muscarinic receptors promote activity dependence of dopamine transmission via distinct receptor subtypes on cholinergic interneurons in ventral versus dorsal striatum.

Striatal dopamine (DA) and acetylcholine (ACh) regulate motivated behaviors and striatal plasticity. Interactions between these neurotransmitters may be important, through synchronous changes in parent neuron activities and reciprocal presynaptic regulation of release. How DA signaling is regulated by striatal muscarinic receptors (mAChRs) is unresolved; contradictory reports indicate suppression or facilitation, implicating several mAChR subtypes on various neurons. We investigated whether mAChR regulation of DA signaling varies with presynaptic activity and identified the mAChRs responsible in sensorimotor- versus limbic-associated striatum. We detected DA in real time at carbon fiber microelectrodes in mouse striatal slices. Broad-spectrum mAChR agonists [oxotremorine-M, APET (arecaidine propargyl ester tosylate)] decreased DA release evoked by low-frequency stimuli (1-10 Hz, four pulses) but increased the sensitivity of DA release to presynaptic activity, even enhancing release by high frequencies (e.g., >25 Hz for four pulses). These bidirectional effects depended on ACh input to striatal nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) on DA axons but not GABA or glutamate input. In caudate-putamen (CPu), knock-out of M(2)- or M(4)-mAChRs (not M(5)) prevented mAChR control of DA, indicating that M(2)- and M(4)-mAChRs are required. In nucleus accumbens (NAc) core or shell, mAChR function was prevented in M(4)-knock-outs, but not M(2)- or M(5)-knock-outs. These data indicate that striatal mAChRs, by inhibiting ACh release from cholinergic interneurons and thus modifying nAChR activity, offer variable control of DA release probability that promotes how DA release reflects activation of dopaminergic axons. Furthermore, different coupling of striatal M(2)/M(4)-mAChRs to the control of DA release in CPu versus NAc suggests targets to influence DA/ACh function differentially between striatal domains.

Alpha6-containing nicotinic acetylcholine receptors dominate the nicotine control of dopamine neurotransmission in nucleus accumbens.

Modulation of striatal dopamine (DA) neurotransmission plays a fundamental role in the reinforcing and ultimately addictive effects of nicotine. Nicotine, by desensitizing beta2 subunit-containing (beta2*) nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) on striatal DA axons, significantly enhances how DA is released by reward-related burst activity compared to nonreward-related tonic activity. This action provides a synaptic mechanism for nicotine to facilitate the DA-dependent reinforcement. The subfamily of beta2*-nAChRs responsible for these potent synaptic effects could offer a molecular target for therapeutic strategies in nicotine addiction. We explored the role of alpha6beta2*-nAChRs in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and caudate-putamen (CPu) by observing action potential-dependent DA release from synapses in real-time using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry at carbon-fiber microelectrodes in mouse striatal slices. The alpha6-specific antagonist alpha-conotoxin-MII suppressed DA release evoked by single and low-frequency action potentials and concurrently enhanced release by high-frequency bursts in a manner similar to the beta2*-selective antagonist dihydro-beta-erythroidine (DHbetaE) in NAc, but less so in CPu. The greater role for alpha6*-nAChRs in NAc was not due to any confounding regional difference in ACh tone since elevated ACh levels (after the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor ambenonium) had similar outcomes in NAc and CPu. Rather, there appear to be underlying differences in nAChR subtype function in NAc and CPu. In summary, we reveal that alpha6beta2*-nAChRs dominate the effects of nicotine on DA release in NAc, whereas in CPu their role is minor alongside other beta2*-nAChRs (eg alpha4*), These data offer new insights to suggest striatal alpha6*-nAChRs as a molecular target for a therapeutic strategy for nicotine addiction.