Nicotine and ATP Signaling Interactions in the Adolescent Brain
Yen-Chu Chen, Daniel Jun Rindner, James P. Fowler, Valeria Lallai, Allison Mogul, et al.
(see pages 8259–8270)
As teenagers increase their usage of e-cigarettes, research interest in the impact of nicotine on the adolescent brain grows. Nicotine use and withdrawal are associated with a projection from the medial habenula (MHb) to the interpeduncular nucleus, and nicotine targets nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) on cholinergic MHb neurons. However, a better mechanistic understanding of how nicotine interacts with this signaling system to impact MHb neuron activity is needed. In this issue, Chen et al. investigated nicotine interactions with the ATP signaling system in adolescent mice because ATP receptors interact with nAChRs elsewhere in the brain and are expressed on MHb neurons. They first revealed that nicotine induces ATP release in the MHb through the use of the fluorescent G-protein-coupled receptor activation-based ATP sensor. Next, they recorded from MHb cholinergic neurons with patch-clamp electrophysiology to determine that activating ATP receptors increases neuron activity. Finally, they found that nicotine exposure on MHb cholinergic neurons leads to mixed results depending on ATP receptor subtype expression, prior exposure to nicotine, and the sex of mice. Ultimately, these data suggest that nicotine and ATP signaling interactions in the adolescent brain are intricate and complex and set the groundwork for future investigations on the ATP-mediated mechanisms underlying adolescent nicotine use and withdrawal.
Depicted are examples of electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes. Image: Wikimedia Commons/Vector Toons, licensed under CC0 1.0.
Footnotes
This Week in The Journal was written by Paige McKeon
