Optical dopamine monitoring with dLight1 reveals mesolimbic phenotypes in a mouse model of neurofibromatosis type 1.

ABSTRACT: Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant disorder whose neurodevelopmental symptoms include impaired executive function, attention, and spatial learning and could be due to perturbed mesolimbic dopaminergic circuitry. However, these circuits have never been directly assayed in vivo. We employed the genetically encoded optical dopamine sensor dLight1 to monitor dopaminergic neurotransmission in the ventral striatum of NF1 mice during motivated behavior. Additionally, we developed novel systemic AAV vectors to facilitate morphological reconstruction of dopaminergic populations in cleared tissue. We found that NF1 mice exhibit reduced spontaneous dopaminergic neurotransmission that was associated with excitation/inhibition imbalance in the ventral tegmental area and abnormal ne

SUBMITTER: Robinson JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6819083 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature