Zvi Susel

Bio: Zvi Susel is an academic researcher from National Institutes of Health. The author has contributed to research in topics: Levodopa & Dopamine receptor. The author has an hindex of 10, co-authored 11 publications receiving 3515 citations.

D1 and D2 dopamine receptor-regulated gene expression of striatonigral and striatopallidal neurons

Abstract: The striatum, which is the major component of the basal ganglia in the brain, is regulated in part by dopaminergic input from the substantia nigra. Severe movement disorders result from the loss of striatal dopamine in patients with Parkinson's disease. Rats with lesions of the nigrostriatal dopamine pathway caused by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) serve as a model for Parkinson's disease and show alterations in gene expression in the two major output systems of the striatum to the globus pallidus and substantia nigra. Striatopallidal neurons show a 6-OHDA-induced elevation in their specific expression of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) encoding the D2 dopamine receptor and enkephalin, which is reversed by subsequent continuous treatment with the D2 agonist quinpirole. Conversely, striatonigral neurons show a 6-OHDA-induced reduction in their specific expression of mRNAs encoding the D1 dopamine receptor and substance P, which is reversed by subsequent daily injections of the D1 agonist SKF-38393. This treatment also increases dynorphin mRNA in striatonigral neurons. Thus, the differential effects of dopamine on striatonigral and striatopallidal neurons are mediated by their specific expression of D1 and D2 dopamine receptor subtypes, respectively.

Continuous and intermittent levodopa differentially affect basal ganglia function.

Abstract: The effects of continuous and intermittent levodopa treatment on behavioral and biochemical indexes of basal ganglia function were compared in rats with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the nigrostriatal dopamine pathway. Animals treated for 30 days with intermittent levodopa exhibited behavioral sensitization manifested by an enhanced rotational response to apomorphine; the rotational response of rats treated with an equivalent dose of levodopa by continuous infusion did not differ from that of saline-treated controls. Dopamine receptor up-regulation in the denervated striatum relative to the intact striatum was statistically significant for D1 but not D2 receptors: This asymmetry in dopamine receptor levels was diminished following intermittent levodopa treatment. Glutamic acid decarboxylase activity, modestly elevated in all groups in the denervated striatum relative to the intact striatum, increased substantially over control values bilaterally as a result of intermittent, but not continuous, levodopa treatment. These findings suggest a relation between the schedule of chronic levodopa administration and the development of behavioral sensitization, possibly as a consequence of alterations in neuronal systems located downstream from striatal dopamine receptors. The behavioral sensitization induced by chronic, intermittent dopaminomimetic treatment may serve as a model for motor fluctuations in Parkinson's disease.

Chronic levodopa treatment alters basal and dopamine agonist-stimulated cerebral glucose utilization

Abstract: The effect of chronic levodopa administration on the functional activity of the basal ganglia and its output regions was evaluated by means of the 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) autoradiographic technique in rats with a unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesion of the nigrostriatal pathway. The rates of local cerebral glucose utilization were studied under basal conditions as well as in response to challenge with a selective D1 or D2 dopamine-receptor agonist. Levodopa (100 mg/kg/d, i.p.) was administered for 19 d either continuously via infusion with an osmotic pump or intermittently by twice-daily injections. Following a 3-d washout, glucose utilization was found to be decreased by both levodopa regimens in the nucleus accumbens; intermittent levodopa also decreased glucose utilization in the entopeduncular nucleus, subthalamic nucleus, ventrolateral thalamus, ventromedial thalamus, ventroposterolateral thalamus, and lateral habenula. In control (lesioned and treated chronically with saline) rats, the D1 agonist SKF 38393 (5 mg/kg, i.v.) increased 2-DG uptake in the substantia nigra pars reticulata and entopeduncular nucleus ipsilateral to the lesion by 84% and 56%, respectively. Both continuous and intermittent levodopa blunted the SKF 38393-induced elevation in glucose metabolism in the substantia nigra pars reticulata, while intermittent levodopa also attenuated the increase in the entopeduncular nucleus. The D2 agonist quinpirole (0.4 mg/kg, i.v.) did not increase glucose utilization in any brain region in control animals; following intermittent levodopa treatment, however, quinpirole increased 2-DG uptake by 64% in the subthalamic nucleus and by 39% in the deep layers of the superior colliculus on the ipsilateral side.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Predictive Reward Signal of Dopamine Neurons

Abstract: Schultz, Wolfram. Predictive reward signal of dopamine neurons. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 1–27, 1998. The effects of lesions, receptor blocking, electrical self-stimulation, and drugs of abuse suggest t...

Dopamine Receptors: From Structure to Function

Abstract: Missale, Cristina, S. Russel Nash, Susan W. Robinson, Mohamed Jaber, and Marc G. Caron. Dopamine Receptors: From Structure to Function. Physiol. Rev. 78: 189–225, 1998. — The diverse physiological actions of dopamine are mediated by at least five distinct G protein-coupled receptor subtypes. Two D1-like receptor subtypes (D1 and D5) couple to the G protein Gs and activate adenylyl cyclase. The other receptor subtypes belong to the D2-like subfamily (D2 , D3 , and D4) and are prototypic of G protein-coupled receptors that inhibit adenylyl cyclase and activate K+ channels. The genes for the D1 and D5 receptors are intronless, but pseudogenes of the D5 exist. The D2 and D3 receptors vary in certain tissues and species as a result of alternative splicing, and the human D4 receptor gene exhibits extensive polymorphic variation. In the central nervous system, dopamine receptors are widely expressed because they are involved in the control of locomotion, cognition, emotion, and affect as well as neuroendocrine s...

Regulation of parkinsonian motor behaviours by optogenetic control of basal ganglia circuitry

Abstract: Neural circuits of the basal ganglia are critical for motor planning and action selection. Two parallel basal ganglia pathways have been described, and have been proposed to exert opposing influences on motor function. According to this classical model, activation of the 'direct' pathway facilitates movement and activation of the 'indirect' pathway inhibits movement. However, more recent anatomical and functional evidence has called into question the validity of this hypothesis. Because this model has never been empirically tested, the specific function of these circuits in behaving animals remains unknown. Here we report direct activation of basal ganglia circuitry in vivo, using optogenetic control of direct- and indirect-pathway medium spiny projection neurons (MSNs), achieved through Cre-dependent viral expression of channelrhodopsin-2 in the striatum of bacterial artificial chromosome transgenic mice expressing Cre recombinase under control of regulatory elements for the dopamine D1 or D2 receptor. Bilateral excitation of indirect-pathway MSNs elicited a parkinsonian state, distinguished by increased freezing, bradykinesia and decreased locomotor initiations. In contrast, activation of direct-pathway MSNs reduced freezing and increased locomotion. In a mouse model of Parkinson's disease, direct-pathway activation completely rescued deficits in freezing, bradykinesia and locomotor initiation. Taken together, our findings establish a critical role for basal ganglia circuitry in the bidirectional regulation of motor behaviour and indicate that modulation of direct-pathway circuitry may represent an effective therapeutic strategy for ameliorating parkinsonian motor deficits.