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The Journal of Neuroscience, April 13, 2005, 25(15):3851-3856; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0205-05.2005

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BRIEF COMMUNICATION
Increased Capacity and Density of Choline Transporters Situated in Synaptic Membranes of the Right Medial Prefrontal Cortex of Attentional Task-Performing Rats

Subbu Apparsundaram,^1 * Vicente Martinez,^2 * Vinay Parikh,² Rouba Kozak,² and Martin Sarter²

¹Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40536, and ²Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1109

Cholinergic neurons innervating the cortex have been conceptualized as a major component of the attention system of the brain. Because of recent evidence indicating plastic mechanisms regulating choline transporter (CHT)-mediated high-affinity choline uptake, which is the rate-limiting step of acetylcholine synthesis, the present experiment determined the capacity of cholinergic terminals to transport choline, and the proportion of choline transporters localized in the membrane of synaptic terminals, in several brain regions of rats performing a cognitive vigilance task (CVT) and a simple reaction time task (SRTT) and nonperforming (NP) rats. Compared with evidence from NP rats, increased choline transporter capacity [as indicated by maximum transporter velocity (V_max)] and an increased density of CHTs situated in synaptic plasma membrane, relative to intracellular locations, were observed in the medial prefrontal cortex of the right but not left hemisphere of CVT-performing animals. Furthermore, right medial prefrontal V_max values of CVT-performing rats correlated positively and left medial V_max values correlated negatively with the animals' performance in signal trials. Measures of CHT function in the brains of SRTT-performing animals did not differ significantly from those in NP rats. The present data support the hypothesis that an increased capacity of choline transporters in the right medial prefrontal cortex, primarily attributable to increased trafficking of transporters from intracellular compartments to the terminal membrane, represents a cellular mechanism contributing to the mediation of attentional performance.

Key words: choline transporter; attention; prefrontal cortex; acetylcholine; synaptosome; trafficking

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Received Jan 14, 2005; revised February 16, 2005; accepted March 1, 2005.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				V. Parikh, K. Man, M. W. Decker, and M. Sarter Glutamatergic Contributions to Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Agonist-Evoked Cholinergic Transients in the Prefrontal Cortex J. Neurosci., April 2, 2008; 28(14): 3769 - 3780. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Pinthong, S. A. G. Black, F. M. Ribeiro, C. Pholpramool, S. S. G. Ferguson, and R. J. Rylett Activity and Subcellular Trafficking of the Sodium-Coupled Choline Transporter CHT Is Regulated Acutely by Peroxynitrite Mol. Pharmacol., March 1, 2008; 73(3): 801 - 812. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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