Exposure to an enriched environment selectively increases the functional response of the pre-synaptic NMDA receptors which modulate noradrenaline release in mouse hippocampus.

We evaluated the impact of environmental training on the functions of pre-synaptic glutamatergic NMDA and alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate (AMPA) and nicotinic receptors expressed by hippocampal noradrenergic nerve terminals. Synaptosomes isolated from the hippocampi of mice housed in enriched (EE) or standard (SE) environment were labeled with [(3)H]noradrenaline ([(3)H]NA) and tritium release was monitored during exposure in superfusion to NMDA, AMPA, epibatidine or high K(+). NMDA -evoked [(3)H]NA release from EE hippocampal synaptosomes was significantly higher than that from SE synaptosomes, while the [(3)H]NA overflow elicited by 100 muM AMPA, 1 muM epibatidine or (9, 15, 25 mM) KCl was unchanged. In EE mice, the apparent affinity of NMDA or glycine was unmodified, while the efficacy was significantly augmented. Sensitivity to non-selective or subtype-selective NMDA receptor antagonists (MK-801, ifenprodil and Zn(2+) ions) was not modified in EE. Finally, the analysis of NMDA receptor subunit mRNA expression in noradrenergic cell bodies of the locus coeruleus showed that NR1, NR2A, NR2B and NR2D subunits were unchanged, while NR2C decreased significantly in EE mice as compared to SE mice. Functional up-regulation of the pre-synaptic NMDA receptors modulating NA release might contribute to the improved learning and memory found in animals exposed to an EE.

Presynaptic nicotinic α7 and non-α7 receptors stimulate endogenous GABA release from rat hippocampal synaptosomes through two mechanisms of action.

BACKGROUND: Although converging evidence has suggested that nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) play a role in the modulation of GABA release in rat hippocampus, the specific involvement of different nAChR subtypes at presynaptic level is still a matter of debate. In the present work we investigated, using selective α7 and α4ß2 nAChR agonists, the presence of different nAChR subtypes on hippocampal GABA nerve endings to assess to what extent and through which mechanisms they stimulate endogenous GABA release. METHODOLOGY/FINDINGS: All agonists elicited GABA overflow. Choline (Ch)-evoked GABA overflow was dependent to external Ca(2+), but unaltered in the presence of Cd(2+), tetrodotoxin (TTX), dihydro-ß-erythroidine (DHßE) and 1-(4,4-Diphenyl-3-butenyl)-3-piperidinecarboxylic acid hydrochloride SKF 89976A. The effect of Ch was blocked by methyllycaconitine (MLA), α-bungarotoxin (α-BTX), dantrolene, thapsigargin and xestospongin C, suggesting that GABA release might be triggered by Ca(2+) entry into synaptosomes through the α7 nAChR channel with the involvement of calcium from intracellular stores. Additionally, 5-Iodo-A-85380 dihydrochloride (5IA85380) elicited GABA overflow, which was Ca(2+) dependent, blocked by Cd(2+), and significantly inhibited by TTX and DHßE, but unaffected by MLA, SKF 89976A, thapsigargin and xestospongin C and dantrolene. These findings confirm the involvement of α4ß2 nAChR in 5IA85380-induced GABA release that seems to occur following membrane depolarization and opening calcium channels. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Rat hippocampal synaptosomes possess both α7 and α4ß2 nAChR subtypes, which can modulate GABA release via two distinct mechanisms of action. The finding that GABA release evoked by the mixture of sub-maximal concentration of 5IA85380 plus sub-threshold concentrations of Ch was significantly larger than that elicited by the sum of the effects of the two agonists is compatible with the possibility that they coexist on the same nerve terminals. These findings would provide the basis for possible selective pharmacological strategies to treat neuronal disorders that involve the dysfunction of hippocampal cholinergic system.

Specific neuromodulatory actions of amyloid-beta on dopamine release in rat nucleus accumbens and caudate putamen.

We previously demonstrated that amyloid-beta (Abeta) has a neuromodulatory action in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). In this area of the brain, the peptide disrupts the cholinergic control of dopamine (DA) release both in vivo and in vitro. The aim of the present work was to extend the research on the neuromodulatory effect of Abeta (1-40) on DA transmission to different release stimuli and to another dopaminergic brain area, the caudate putamen (CPu), in order to clarify whether the effect of the peptide is stimulus- or brain area-selective. We performed both in vivo (microdialysis associated to HPLC) and in vitro studies (synaptosomes in superfusion). Both in NAc and in CPu and both in vivo and in vitro, Abeta did not affect either basal or potassium-stimulated DA release. In CPu, the Abeta ability to impair the DA release evoked by the cholinergic agonist carbachol, observed in NAc, was confirmed only in vitro. Moreover, in vitro Abeta affected a specific component of the DA overflow evoked by the non-selective metabotropic glutamate receptors agonist t-ACPD. Altogether, these results show that Abeta may have different neuromodulatory actions depending upon the secretory stimulus and, in vivo, the brain area investigated.