Dataset Information

D1 receptor hypersensitivity in mice with low striatal D2 receptors facilitates select cocaine behaviors.

ABSTRACT: Vulnerability for cocaine abuse in humans is associated with low dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) availability in the striatum. The mechanisms driving this vulnerability are poorly understood. In this study, we found that downregulating D2R expression selectively in striatal indirect-pathway neurons triggers a multitude of changes in D1 receptor (D1R)-expressing direct-pathway neurons, which comprise the other main subpopulation of striatal projection neurons. These changes include a leftward shift in the dose-response to a D1-like agonist that indicates a behavioral D1R hypersensitivity, a shift from PKA to ERK intracellular signaling cascades upon D1R activation, and a reduction in the density of bridging collaterals from D1R-expressing neurons to pallidal areas. We hypothesize that the D1R hypersensitivity underlies abuse vulnerability by facilitating the behavioral responses to repeated cocaine, such as locomotor sensitization and drug self-administration. We found evidence that littermate control mice develop D1R hypersensitivity after they are sensitized to cocaine. Indeed, D1-like agonist and cocaine cross-sensitize in control littermates and this effect was potentiated in mice lacking striatal D2Rs from indirect-pathway neurons. To our surprise, mice with low striatal D2Rs acquired cocaine self-administration similarly to littermate controls and showed no significant change in motivation to take cocaine but lower seeking. These findings indicate that downregulation of striatal D2Rs triggers D1R hypersensitivity to facilitate cocaine locomotor sensitization, which by itself was not associated with greater cocaine taking or seeking under the conditions tested.

SUBMITTER: Dobbs LK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6372593 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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D1 receptor hypersensitivity in mice with low striatal D2 receptors facilitates select cocaine behaviors.

Dobbs Lauren K LK Kaplan Alanna R AR Bock Roland R Phamluong Khanhky K Shin J Hoon JH Bocarsly Miriam E ME Eberhart Lindsay L Ron Dorit D Alvarez Veronica A VA

Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology 20181201 4

Vulnerability for cocaine abuse in humans is associated with low dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) availability in the striatum. The mechanisms driving this vulnerability are poorly understood. In this study, we found that downregulating D2R expression selectively in striatal indirect-pathway neurons triggers a multitude of changes in D1 receptor (D1R)-expressing direct-pathway neurons, which comprise the other main subpopulation of striatal projection neurons. These changes include a leftward shift in ...[more]

PMID: 30504927

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Project description:Many neurological disorders and diseases including drug addiction are associated with specific neuronal cell types in the brain. The striatum, a region that plays a critically important role in the development of addictive drug-related behavior, provides a good example of the cellular heterogeneity challenges associated with analyses of specific neuronal cell types. Such studies are needed to identify the adaptive changes in neuroproteomic signaling that occur in response to diseases such as addiction. The striatum contains two major cell types, D1 and D2 type dopaminoceptive medium spiny neurons (MSNs), whose cell bodies and processes are intermingled throughout this region. Since little is known about the proteomes of these two neuronal cell populations, we have begun to address this challenge by using fluorescence-activated nuclear sorting (FANS) to isolate nuclei-containing fractions from striatum from D1 and D2 "Translating Ribosome Affinity Purification" (TRAP) mice. This approach enabled us to devise and implement a robust and reproducible workflow for preparing samples from specific MSN cell types for mass spectrometry analyses. These analyses quantified at least 685 proteins in each of four biological replicates of 50 K sorted nuclei from two D1 mice/replicate and from each of four biological replicates of 50 K sorted nuclei from two D2 mice/replicate. Proteome analyses identified 87 proteins that were differentially expressed in D1 versus D2 MSN nuclei and principal component analysis (PCA) of these proteins separated the 8 biological replicates into specific cell types. Central network analysis of the 87 differentially expressed proteins identified Hnrnpd and Hnmpa2b1 in D1 and Cct2 and Cct7 in D2 as potential central interactors. This workflow can now be used to improve our understanding of many neurological diseases including characterizing the short and long-term impact of drugs of abuse on the proteomes of these two dopaminoceptive neuronal populations.

Project description:Acetylcholine is an important modulator of striatal activity, and it is vital to controlling striatal-dependent behaviors, including motor and cognitive functions. Despite this significance, the mechanisms determining how acetylcholine impacts striatal signaling are still not fully understood. In particular, little is known about the role of nAChRs expressed by striatal interneurons. In the present study, we used FISH to determine which neuronal types express the most prevalent beta2 nicotinic subunit in the mouse striatum. Our data support a common view that nAChR expression is mostly restricted to striatal interneurons. Surprisingly though, cholinergic interneurons were identified as a population with the highest expression of beta2 nicotinic subunit. To investigate the functional significance of beta2-containing nAChRs in striatal interneurons, we deleted them by injecting the AAV-Cre vector into the striatum of beta2-flox/flox male mice. The deletion led to alterations in several behavioral domains, namely, to an increased anxiety-like behavior, decrease in sociability ratio, deficit in discrimination learning, and increased amphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion and c-Fos expression in mice with beta2 deletion. Further colocalization analysis showed that the increased c-Fos expression was present in both medium spiny neurons and presumed striatal interneurons. The present study concludes that, despite being relatively rare, beta2-containing nAChRs are primarily expressed in striatal neurons by cholinergic interneurons and play a significant role in behavior.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT A large variety of nAChRs are expressed in the striatum, a brain region that is crucial in the control of behavior. The complexity of receptors with different functions is hindering our understanding of mechanisms through which striatal acetylcholine modulates behavior. We focused on the role of a small population of beta2-containing nAChRs. We identified neuronal types expressing these receptors and determined their impact in the control of explorative behavior, anxiety-like behavior, learning, and sensitivity to stimulants. Additional experiments showed that these alterations were associated with an overall increased activity of striatal neurons. Thus, the small population of nicotinic receptors represents an interesting target for a modulation of response to stimulant drugs and other striatal-based behavior.

Dataset Information

D1 receptor hypersensitivity in mice with low striatal D2 receptors facilitates select cocaine behaviors.

Publications

D1 receptor hypersensitivity in mice with low striatal D2 receptors facilitates select cocaine behaviors.

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