Open AccessOptogenetic Stimulation of Midbrain Dopamine Neurons Produces Striatal Serotonin Release
Author(s) -
Merel Dagher,
Katie A Perrotta,
Sara A Erwin,
Ayaka Hachisuka,
Rahul Iyer,
Sotiris C. Masmanidis,
Hongyan Yang,
Anne M. Andrews
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
acs chemical neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.158
H-Index - 69
ISSN - 1948-7193
DOI - 10.1021/acschemneuro.1c00715
Subject(s) - dopamine , optogenetics , neuroscience , neurotransmitter , striatum , dopaminergic , serotonin , biology , chemistry , receptor , central nervous system , biochemistry
Targeting neurons with light-driven opsins is widely used to investigate cell-specific responses. We transfected midbrain dopamine neurons with the excitatory opsin Chrimson. Extracellular basal and stimulated neurotransmitter levels in the dorsal striatum were measured by microdialysis in awake mice. Optical activation of dopamine cell bodies evoked terminal dopamine release in the striatum. Multiplexed analysis of dialysate samples revealed that the evoked dopamine was accompanied by temporally coupled increases in striatal 3-methoxytyramine, an extracellular dopamine metabolite, and in serotonin. We investigated a mechanism for dopamine-serotonin interactions involving striatal dopamine receptors. However, the evoked serotonin associated with optical stimulation of dopamine neurons was not abolished by striatal D1- or D2-like receptor inhibition. Although the mechanisms underlying the coupling of striatal dopamine and serotonin remain unclear, these findings illustrate advantages of multiplexed measurements for uncovering functional interactions between neurotransmitter systems. Furthermore, they suggest that the output of optogenetic manipulations may extend beyond opsin-expressing neuronal populations.