Optogenetic control of serotonin and dopamine release in Drosophila larvae.

ABSTRACT: Optogenetic control of neurotransmitter release is an elegant method to investigate neurobiological mechanisms with millisecond precision and cell type-specific resolution. Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) can be expressed in specific neurons, and blue light used to activate those neurons. Previously, in Drosophila, neurotransmitter release and uptake have been studied after continuous optical illumination. In this study, we investigated the effects of pulsed optical stimulation trains on serotonin or dopamine release in larval ventral nerve cords. In larvae with ChR2 expressed in serotonergic neurons, low-frequency stimulations produced a distinct, steady-state response while high-frequency patterns were peak shaped. Evoked serotonin release increased with increasing stimulation frequency and th

SUBMITTER: Xiao N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4140588 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature