Premium
Vesicular glutamate transporter 3 (VGLUT3) identifies spatially segregated excitatory terminals in the rat substantia nigra
Author(s) -
MartínIbañez Raquel,
Jenstad Monica,
Berghuis Paul,
Edwards Robert H.,
Hioki Hiroyuki,
Kaneko Takeshi,
Mulder Jan,
Canals Josep M.,
Ernfors Patrik,
Chaudhry Farrukh A.,
Harkany Tibor
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2006.04601.x
Subject(s) - substantia nigra , pars compacta , neuroscience , excitatory postsynaptic potential , glutamatergic , superior colliculus , pars reticulata , medium spiny neuron , glutamate receptor , dopaminergic , biology , chemistry , dopamine , striatum , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , biochemistry , receptor
The excitability of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra is controlled by the convergent activity of multiple glutamatergic afferents. Here, we show that vesicular glutamate transporter 3 (VGLUT3)‐immunoreactive (ir) terminals segregate to the perisomatic region of DA neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta, and VGLUT3 decorates a synapse population distinct from those marked by vesicular glutamate transporters 1 and 2. VGLUT3‐ir nerve endings form asymmetric terminals on DA neurons. Retrograde tracing suggests the superior colliculus as an origin of excitatory VGLUT3‐ir afferents. Collectively, our data indicate that VGLUT3 identifies a novel excitatory terminal subset that contributes to the tuning of DA cell excitability in the substantia nigra.