RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Glutamatergic Signaling by Mesolimbic Dopamine Neurons in the Nucleus Accumbens
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 7105
OP 7110
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0265-10.2010
VO 30
IS 20
A1 Tecuapetla, Fatuel
A1 Patel, Jyoti C.
A1 Xenias, Harry
A1 English, Daniel
A1 Tadros, Ibrahim
A1 Shah, Fulva
A1 Berlin, Joshua
A1 Deisseroth, Karl
A1 Rice, Margaret E.
A1 Tepper, James M.
A1 Koos, Tibor
YR 2010
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/30/20/7105.abstract
AB Recent evidence suggests the intriguing possibility that midbrain dopaminergic (DAergic) neurons may use fast glutamatergic transmission to communicate with their postsynaptic targets. Because of technical limitations, direct demonstration of the existence of this signaling mechanism has been limited to experiments using cell culture preparations that often alter neuronal function including neurotransmitter phenotype. Consequently, it remains uncertain whether glutamatergic signaling between DAergic neurons and their postsynaptic targets exists under physiological conditions. Here, using an optogenetic approach, we provide the first conclusive demonstration that mesolimbic DAergic neurons in mice release glutamate and elicit excitatory postsynaptic responses in projection neurons of the nucleus accumbens. In addition, we describe the properties of the postsynaptic glutamatergic responses of these neurons during experimentally evoked burst firing of DAergic axons that reproduce the reward-related phasic population activity of the mesolimbic projection. These observations indicate that, in addition to DAergic mechanisms, mesolimbic reward signaling may involve glutamatergic transmission.