scholarly journals Cholinergic interneurons mediate cocaine extinction through similar plasticity across medium spiny neuron subtypes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weston Fleming ◽  
Junuk Lee ◽  
Brandy A Briones ◽  
Scott Bolkan ◽  
Ilana B Witten
Keyword(s):  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Natural Variation ◽  
Medium Spiny Neuron ◽  
Medium Spiny Neurons ◽  
Cholinergic Interneurons ◽  
Event Frequency ◽  
Mediated Effects ◽  
Spiny Neurons ◽  
Cholinergic Signaling ◽  
Opposing Effects

Cholinergic interneurons (ChINs) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) have been implicated in the acquisition and extinction of drug associations, as well as related plasticity in medium spiny neurons (MSNs). However, since most previous work has relied on artificial manipulations, if and how endogenous patterns of cholinergic signaling relate to drug associations is unknown. Moreover, despite great interest in the opposing effects of dopamine on MSN subtypes, whether ChIN-mediated effects are similar or different across MSN subtypes is also unknown. Here, we find that endogenous acetylcholine event frequency during extinction negatively correlates with the strength and persistence of cocaine-context associations across individuals, consistent with effects of artificial manipulation of ChIN activity during extinction. Moreover, ChIN activation during extinction produces a reduction in excitatory synaptic strength on both MSN subtypes, similar to the effect of multiple extinction sessions in the absence of ChIN manipulations. Together, our findings indicate that natural variation in NAc acetylcholine may contribute to individual differences in drug-context extinction by modulating glutamatergic presynaptic strength similarly at both D1R and D2R MSN subtypes.

Pitx3 Deficiency in Mice Affects Cholinergic Modulation of GABAergic Synapses in the Nucleus Accumbens

2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 2034-2041 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mischa de Rover ◽  
Johannes C. Lodder ◽  
Marten P. Smidt ◽  
Arjen B. Brussaard
Keyword(s):  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Medium Spiny Neurons ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Cholinergic Modulation ◽  
Firing Patterns ◽  
Neural Adaptations ◽  
Cholinergic Interneurons ◽  
Spiny Neurons ◽  
Gating Mechanism ◽  
Deficient Mice

We investigated to what extent Pitx3 deficiency, causing hyperdopaminergic transmission in the nucleus accumbens microcircuitry, may lead to developmental changes. First, spontaneous firing activity of cholinergic interneurons in the nucleus accumbens was recorded in vitro. Firing patterns in the Pitx3-deficient mice were more variable and intrinsically different from those observed in wild-type mice. Next, to test whether the irregular firing patterns observed in mutant mice affected the endogenous nicotinic modulation of the GABAergic input of medium spiny neurons, we recorded spontaneous GABAergic inputs to these cells before and after the application of the nicotinic receptor blocker mecamylamine. Effects of mecamylamine were found in slices of either genotype, but in a rather inconsistent manner. Possibly this was attributable to heterogeneity in firing of nearby cholinergic interneurons. Thus paired recordings of cholinergic interneurons and medium spiny neurons were performed to more precisely control the experimental conditions of the cholinergic modulation of GABAergic synaptic transmission. We found that controlling action potential firing in cholinergic neurons leads to a conditional increase in GABAergic input frequency in wild-type mice but not in Pitx3-deficient mice. We conclude that Pitx3-deficient mice have neural adaptations at the level of the nucleus accumbens microcircuitry that in turn may have behavioral consequences. It is discussed to what extent dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens may be a long-term gating mechanism leading to alterations in cholinergic transmission in the nucleus accumbens, in line with previously reported neural adaptations found as consequences of repeated drug treatment in rodents.

scholarly journals BACHD Mice Recapitulate the Striatal Parvalbuminergic Interneuron Loss Found in Huntington’s Disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vyshnavi Rallapalle ◽  
Annesha C. King ◽  
Michelle Gray
Keyword(s):  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Neuronal Population ◽  
Medium Spiny Neurons ◽  
Cholinergic Interneurons ◽  
Spiny Neurons ◽  
Parvalbumin Interneurons ◽  
Area And Perimeter ◽  
Old Mice ◽  
Disease Grade

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a dominantly inherited, adult-onset neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor, psychiatric, and cognitive abnormalities. Neurodegeneration is prominently observed in the striatum where GABAergic medium spiny neurons (MSN) are the most affected neuronal population. Interestingly, recent reports of pathological changes in HD patient striatal tissue have identified a significant reduction in the number of parvalbumin-expressing interneurons which becomes more robust in tissues of higher disease grade. Analysis of other interneuron populations, including somatostatin, calretinin, and cholinergic, did not reveal significant neurodegeneration. Electrophysiological experiments in BACHD mice have identified significant changes in the properties of parvalbumin and somatostatin expressing interneurons in the striatum. Furthermore, their interactions with MSNs are altered as the mHTT expressing mouse models age with increased input onto MSNs from striatal somatostatin and parvalbumin-expressing neurons. In order to determine whether BACHD mice recapitulate the alterations in striatal interneuron number as observed in HD patients, we analyzed the number of striatal parvalbumin, somatostatin, calretinin, and choline acetyltransferase positive cells in symptomatic 12–14 month-old mice by immunofluorescent labeling. We observed a significant decrease in the number of parvalbumin-expressing interneurons as well as a decrease in the area and perimeter of these cells. No significant changes were observed for somatostatin, calretinin, or cholinergic interneuron numbers while a significant decrease was observed for the area of cholinergic interneurons. Thus, the BACHD mice recapitulate the degenerative phenotype observed in the parvalbumin interneurons in HD patient striata without affecting the number of other interneuron populations in the striatum.

scholarly journals Microglial NFκB-TNFα hyperactivation induces obsessive–compulsive behavior in mouse models of progranulin-deficient frontotemporal dementia

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (19) ◽  
pp. 5029-5034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grietje Krabbe ◽  
S. Sakura Minami ◽  
Jon I. Etchegaray ◽  
Praveen Taneja ◽  
Biljana Djukic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Frontotemporal Dementia ◽  
Knockout Mice ◽  
Nuclear Factor Κb ◽  
Medium Spiny Neurons ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Spiny Neurons ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Excessive Grooming

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is the second most common dementia before 65 years of age. Haploinsufficiency in the progranulin (GRN) gene accounts for 10% of all cases of familial FTD. GRN mutation carriers have an increased risk of autoimmune disorders, accompanied by elevated levels of tissue necrosis factor (TNF) α. We examined behavioral alterations related to obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and the role of TNFα and related signaling pathways in FTD patients with GRN mutations and in mice lacking progranulin (PGRN). We found that patients and mice with GRN mutations displayed OCD and self-grooming (an OCD-like behavior in mice), respectively. Furthermore, medium spiny neurons in the nucleus accumbens, an area implicated in development of OCD, display hyperexcitability in PGRN knockout mice. Reducing levels of TNFα in PGRN knockout mice abolished excessive self-grooming and the associated hyperexcitability of medium spiny neurons of the nucleus accumbens. In the brain, PGRN is highly expressed in microglia, which are a major source of TNFα. We therefore deleted PGRN specifically in microglia and found that it was sufficient to induce excessive grooming. Importantly, excessive grooming in these mice was prevented by inactivating nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) in microglia/myeloid cells. Our findings suggest that PGRN deficiency leads to excessive NF-κB activation in microglia and elevated TNFα signaling, which in turn lead to hyperexcitability of medium spiny neurons and OCD-like behavior.

scholarly journals Sex-Specific Role for Egr3 in Nucleus Accumbens D2-Medium Spiny Neurons Following Long-Term Abstinence From Cocaine Self-administration

2020 ◽  
Vol 87 (11) ◽  
pp. 992-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Engeln ◽  
Swarup Mitra ◽  
Ramesh Chandra ◽  
Utsav Gyawali ◽  
Megan E. Fox ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Specific Role ◽  
Medium Spiny Neurons ◽  
Self Administration ◽  
Spiny Neurons

scholarly journals Levodopa-Induced Dyskinesia Is Related to Indirect Pathway Medium Spiny Neuron Excitotoxicity: A Hypothesis Based on an Unexpected Finding

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svetlana A. Ivanova ◽  
Anton J. M. Loonen
Keyword(s):  
Oxidative Stress ◽  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Medium Spiny Neuron ◽  
Synaptic Membrane ◽  
Medium Spiny Neurons ◽  
Unexpected Finding ◽  
Indirect Pathway ◽  
Spiny Neurons

A serendipitous pharmacogenetic finding links the vulnerability to developing levodopa-induced dyskinesia to the age of onset of Huntington’s disease. Huntington’s disease is caused by a polyglutamate expansion of the protein huntingtin. Aberrant huntingtin is less capable of binding to a member of membrane-associated guanylate kinase family (MAGUKs): postsynaptic density- (PSD-) 95. This leaves more PSD-95 available to stabilize NR2B subunit carrying NMDA receptors in the synaptic membrane. This results in increased excitotoxicity for which particularly striatal medium spiny neurons from the indirect extrapyramidal pathway are sensitive. In Parkinson’s disease the sensitivity for excitotoxicity is related to increased oxidative stress due to genetically determined abnormal metabolism of dopamine or related products. This probably also increases the sensitivity of medium spiny neurons for exogenous levodopa. Particularly the combination of increased oxidative stress due to aberrant dopamine metabolism, increased vulnerability to NMDA induced excitotoxicity, and the particular sensitivity of indirect pathway medium spiny neurons for this excitotoxicity may explain the observed increased prevalence of levodopa-induced dyskinesia.

scholarly journals Trafficking of calcium-permeable and calcium-impermeable AMPA receptors in nucleus accumbens medium spiny neurons co-cultured with prefrontal cortex neurons

2017 ◽  
Vol 116 ◽  
pp. 224-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig T. Werner ◽  
Conor H. Murray ◽  
Jeremy M. Reimers ◽  
Niravkumar M. Chauhan ◽  
Kenneth K.Y. Woo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Nucleus Accumbens ◽  
Ampa Receptors ◽  
Medium Spiny Neurons ◽  
Spiny Neurons
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