Premium
Quantification of Striatal Dopamine Receptors in a Monogamous Bird
Author(s) -
Eisenman Lauren Elizabeth,
Coleman Melissa
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2018.32.1_supplement.877.6
Subject(s) - nucleus accumbens , taeniopygia , dopamine receptor d2 , zebra finch , dopamine , striatum , pair bond , quinpirole , agonist , mesolimbic pathway , neuroscience , ventral striatum , biology , endocrinology , medicine , chemistry , receptor , dopaminergic , zoology , ventral tegmental area
Little is known about the neural mechanisms that underlie monogamous behavior. In this study, dopamine 1 receptor (D1R) and dopamine 2 receptor (D2R) reorganization in the nucleus accumbens and other striatal tissue was evaluated as a possible physiological basis of monogamous behaviors. Previous research in a monogamous mammal, the prairie vole, has shown that striatal D1R activation is implicated in maintaining pair‐bonds, and is upregulated in pair‐bonded voles versus un‐pair bonded voles. The same research team showed that D2R activation plays an important role in forming the pair‐bond, however there was no significant increase in D2R in pair‐bonded voles versus monogamously naïve voles (Aragona et al., 2006). Dopamine is also implicated in a monogamous bird, the zebra finch ( Taeniopygia guttata ); after pair‐bonding, dopamine levels rise in the nucleus accumbens (Banerjee et al., 2013). Furthermore, previous research in the Coleman lab has shown that D2R activation by a systemic, subcutaneous D2R agonist can induce a partner preference in finches, like in prairie voles. These similar underpinnings with the D2R indicate that D1R upregulation may also occur in zebra finches. To determine if there is D1R upregulation in zebra finches, we used quantitative real‐time PCR to quantify striatal D1R and D2R expression in pair‐bonded and un‐pair bonded birds, as well as in naïve birds that were directly infused with a D2R agonist in the ventral medial striatum, the location of the nucleus accumbens. We found no statistically significant upregulation of either D1R nor D2R between pair‐bonded and naïve birds. However, there was an upregulation of D2R in the upper striatum of birds that were directly infused with D2R agonist. Furthermore, we found an upregulation of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), a precursor enzyme in the production of dopamine, in striatal tissue of pair‐bonded birds. These findings suggest that zebra finches may not rely on physiological reorganization of dopamine receptors, but instead on increased dopamine levels in the ventral medial striatum created by an upregulation of TH. Support or Funding Information APS IOSP Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship IOS‐1238831 This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .