The striatum is the main input station of the basal ganglia and is extensively involved in the modulation of motivated behavior. The information conveyed to this subcortical structure through glutamatergic projections from the cerebral cortex and thalamus is processed by the activity of several striatal neuromodulatory systems including the cholinergic system. Acetylcholine potently modulates glutamate signaling in the striatum via activation of muscarinic receptors (mAChRs). It is, however, unclear which mAChR subtype is responsible for this modulatory effect. Here, by using electrophysiological, optogenetic, and immunoelectron microscopic approaches in conjunction with a novel, highly selective M4 positive allosteric modulator VU0152100 (ML108) and M4 knockout mice, we show that M4 is a major mAChR subtype mediating the cholinergic inhibition of corticostriatal glutamatergic input on both striatonigral and striatopallidal medium spiny neurons (MSNs). This effect is due to activation of presynaptic M4 receptors, which, in turn, leads to a decrease in glutamate release from corticostriatal terminals. The findings of the present study raise the interesting possibility that M4 mAChR could be a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders involving hyper-glutamatergic transmission at corticostriatal synapses.
The dystonias are comprised of a group of disorders that share common neurological abnormalities of involuntary twisting or repetitive movements and postures. The most common inherited primary dystonia is DYT1 dystonia, which is due to loss of a GAG codon in the TOR1A gene that encodes torsinA. Autopsy studies of brains from patients with DYT1 dystonia have revealed few abnormalities, although recent neuroimaging studies have implied the existence of microstructural defects that might not be detectable with traditional histopathological methods. The current studies took advantage of a knock-in mouse model for DYT1 dystonia to search for subtle anatomical abnormalities in the striatum, a region often implicated in studies of dystonia. Multiple abnormalities were identified using a combination of quantitative stereological measures of immunohistochemical stains for specific neuronal populations, morphometric studies of Golgi-stained neurons, and immuno-electron microscopy of synaptic connectivity. In keeping with other studies, there was no obvious loss of striatal neurons in the DYT1 mutant mice. However, interneurons immunoreactive for choline acetyltransferase or parvalbumin were larger in the mutants than in control mice. In contrast, interneurons immunoreactive for neuronal nitric oxide synthase were smaller in the mutants than in controls. Golgi histochemical studies of medium spiny projection neurons in the mutant mice revealed slightly fewer and thinner dendrites, and a corresponding loss of dendritic spines. Electron microscopic studies showed a reduction in the ratio of axo-spinous to axo-dendritic synaptic inputs from glutamatergic and dopaminergic sources in mutant mice compared with controls. These results suggest specific anatomical substrates for altered signaling in the striatum and potential correlates of the abnormalities implied by human imaging studies of DYT1 dystonia.
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