| First Author | Guatteo E | Year | 2000 |
| Journal | J Neurosci | Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 16 | Pages | 6013-20 |
| PubMed ID | 10934250 | Mgi Jnum | J:63835 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:1861838 | Doi | 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.20-16-06013.2000 |
| Citation | Guatteo E, et al. (2000) The weaver mutation reverses the function of dopamine and GABA in mouse dopaminergic neurons. J Neurosci 20(16):6013-20 |
| abstractText | In the present study, we characterized the intrinsic electrophysiological properties and the membrane currents activated by dopamine (DA) D(2) and GABA(B) receptors in midbrain dopaminergic neurons, maintained in vitro in a slice preparation, from wild-type and homozygous weaver (wv/wv) mice. By using patch-clamp techniques, we found that membrane potential, apparent input resistance, and spontaneous firing of wv/wv dopaminergic neurons were similar to those of dopamine-containing cells recorded from nonaffected (+/+) animals. More interestingly, the wv/wv neurons were excited rather than inhibited by dopamine and the GABA(B) agonist baclofen. This neurotransmitter-mediated excitation was attributable to the activation of a G-protein-gated inward current that reversed polarity at a membrane potential of approximately -30 mV. We suggest that the altered behavior of the receptor-operated wv G-protein-gated inwardly rectifying K(+) channel 2 (GIRK2) might be related to the selective degeneration of the dopaminergic neurons. In addition, the wv GIRK2 would not only suppress the autoreceptor-mediated feedback inhibition of DA release but could also establish a feedforward mechanism of DA release in the terminal fields. |
