Detection of phasic dopamine by D1 and D2 striatal medium spiny neurons.

Yapo C, Nair AG, Clement L, Castro LR, Hellgren Kotaleski J, Vincent P

J. Physiol. (Lond.) 595 (24) 7451-7475 [2017-12-15; online 2017-09-02]

Brief dopamine events are critical actors of reward-mediated learning in the striatum; the intracellular cAMP-protein kinase A (PKA) response of striatal medium spiny neurons to such events was studied dynamically using a combination of biosensor imaging in mouse brain slices and in silico simulations. Both D1 and D2 medium spiny neurons can sense brief dopamine transients in the sub-micromolar range. While dopamine transients profoundly change cAMP levels in both types of medium spiny neurons, the PKA-dependent phosphorylation level remains unaffected in D2 neurons. At the level of PKA-dependent phosphorylation, D2 unresponsiveness depends on protein phosphatase-1 (PP1) inhibition by DARPP-32. Simulations suggest that D2 medium spiny neurons could detect transient dips in dopamine level. The phasic release of dopamine in the striatum determines various aspects of reward and action selection, but the dynamics of the dopamine effect on intracellular signalling remains poorly understood. We used genetically encoded FRET biosensors in striatal brain slices to quantify the effect of transient dopamine on cAMP or PKA-dependent phosphorylation levels, and computational modelling to further explore the dynamics of this signalling pathway. Medium-sized spiny neurons (MSNs), which express either D

Affiliated researcher

PubMed 28782235

DOI 10.1113/JP274475

Crossref 10.1113/JP274475

pmc: PMC5730852


Publications 9.5.0