title: Muscarine reduces calcium-dependent electrical activity in substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons.
abstract: The effect of muscarine on Ca2+ dependent electrical activity was studied in dopamine (DA) neurons located in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) in brain slices from young rats, using sharp electrodes. In most DA neurons tested, muscarine (50 microM) reduced the amplitude of spontaneous oscillatory potentials and evoked Ca2+-dependent potentials recorded in the presence of TTX. Muscarine also reduced the amplitude of the slow afterhyperpolarization (sAHP) following action potentials in most DA neurons. These data suggest that muscarine reduces Ca2+ entry in SNc DA neurons. The reduction of the amplitude of the sAHP by muscarine in DA neurons may facilitate bursting initiated by glutamatergic input by increasing the frequency at which DA neurons can fire. The reduction of the sAHP via activation of muscarinic receptors in vivo may provide a mechanism whereby cholinergic inputs to DA neurons from the tegmental peduncular pontine nucleus could modulate dopamine release at dopaminergic targets in the brain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Health Science Center, University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee 38163, USA. rsroggs@nb.utmem.edu
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Scroggs
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Cardenas
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Whittaker
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Kitai
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000502:physiology*; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D008345:Manganese / Q000494:pharmacology; D009116:Muscarine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018721:Muscarinic Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects*; D024681:Potassium Channels, Calcium-Activated / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013779:Tetrodotoxin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D018721:Muscarinic Agonists; D024681:Potassium Channels, Calcium-Activated; D008345:Manganese; D013779:Tetrodotoxin; D009116:Muscarine; D002118:Calcium; D004298:Dopamine