Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 98, Issue 3, 10 April 1989, Pages 310-316
Neuroscience Letters

Neuronal bungarotoxin blocks the nicotinic stimulation of endogenous dopamine release from rat striatum

https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3940(89)90420-5Get rights and content

Abstract

Nicotinic receptors in the brain are receiving increased attention due in part to the recent cloning of receptor subunits and to postmortem studies revealing alterations in receptor density associated with Alzheimer's disease. The peptide neurotoxin neuronal bungarotoxin (NBT) has been shown to block nicotinic cholinergic responses in autonomic ganglia and in retinal ganglion cells. These findings suggest that NBT may be a useful probe for studying nicotinic receptors in the brain. Therefore, we have investigated the effects of NBT on the nicotine-mediated enhancement of endogenous dopamine release from rat striatal slices. It was found that the transient increase in dopamine release caused by 100 μM nicotine was completely blocked by 100 nM NBT, indicating that NBT is a functional nicotinic antagonist in this system.

References (26)

Cited by (67)

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    Studies using immunoprecipitation with subunit-specific antibodies have shown that nicotinic receptors containing α4 and β2 subunits predominate in striatal preparations [67]. However, the nicotinic receptor antagonists nBgt [68,69] and α-Conotoxin MII [70,71], block ∼50% of the nicotine-stimulated DA release in striatal slice and synaptosomal preparations, while αBgt fails to block release altogether. Autoradiography and binding experiments using 125I-nBgt [53,54] or 125I-α-Conotoxin MII [72] have shown labeling in these areas.

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