Dopamine is a highly significant neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, playing a central role in cognition, motor control, and the regulation of emotion. Dysfunction in central dopamine systems is implicated in a number of disorders, including Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and substance abuse. Pathological alterations in the extracellular concentration of dopamine in the brain are generally viewed as the hallmark of dopaminergic dysfunction, which makes the quantitative determination of extracellular dopamine concentrations in the living brain a highly significant objective. However, the penetration of living brain tissue with dopamine-sensitive probes has traumatic consequences that can alter the state of brain dopamine systems and inhibit quantitative dopamine determination. One strategy for diminishing the trauma associated with in vivo measurements is to decrease the size of the probes by adopting amperometric and voltammetric microelectrode technologies. This proposal will investigate whether the diminished trauma associated with microelectrodes enables fundamentally new understanding of brain dopamine systems.
Aim 1 will examine extracellular dopamine concentrations in transgenic mice lacking the dopamine transporter to test the hypothesis that previous indications that these hyperactive animals exhibit elevated extracellular dopamine levels were confounded by the uncertainty associated with brain trauma.
Aim 2 will test the hypothesis that dopamine:glutamate interactions in the rat striatum involve the diffusion of neurotransmitters between closely apposed dopamine and glutamate terminals located within micrometer distances of implanted voltammetric and amperometric microelectrodes.
Aim 3 will evaluate stress and glial activation associated with voltammetric microelectrodes. And, Aim 4 will evaluate disruption of the vascular bed surrounding microelectrode implantation sites as a potential mechanism underlying penetration trauma. Collectively, these studies will establish the extent, time course, and nature of penetration injury associated with in vivo dopamine measurements and show that diminished measurement-injury enables fundamentally new understanding of the role of dopamine systems in normal brain function and the dysfunction associated with brain disorders.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH075989-03
Application #
7614497
Study Section
Enabling Bioanalytical and Biophysical Technologies Study Section (EBT)
Program Officer
Cavelier, German
Project Start
2007-05-01
Project End
2012-03-31
Budget Start
2009-05-18
Budget End
2010-03-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$306,148
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Pittsburgh
Department
Chemistry
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
004514360
City
Pittsburgh
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
15213
Taylor, I Mitch; Nesbitt, Kathryn M; Walters, Seth H et al. (2015) Kinetic diversity of dopamine transmission in the dorsal striatum. J Neurochem 133:522-31
Jaquins-Gerstl, Andrea; Michael, Adrian C (2015) A review of the effects of FSCV and microdialysis measurements on dopamine release in the surrounding tissue. Analyst 140:3696-708
Shu, Zhan; Taylor, I Mitch; Walters, Seth H et al. (2014) Region- and domain-dependent action of nomifensine. Eur J Neurosci 40:2320-8
Walters, Seth H; Taylor, I Mitch; Shu, Zhan et al. (2014) A novel restricted diffusion model of evoked dopamine. ACS Chem Neurosci 5:776-83
Zhang, Jing; Jaquins-Gerstl, Andrea; Nesbitt, Kathryn M et al. (2013) In vivo monitoring of serotonin in the striatum of freely moving rats with one minute temporal resolution by online microdialysis-capillary high-performance liquid chromatography at elevated temperature and pressure. Anal Chem 85:9889-97
Taylor, I Mitch; Ilitchev, Alexandre I; Michael, Adrian C (2013) Restricted diffusion of dopamine in the rat dorsal striatum. ACS Chem Neurosci 4:870-8
Shu, Zhan; Taylor, I Mitch; Michael, Adrian C (2013) The dopamine patchwork of the rat nucleus accumbens core. Eur J Neurosci 38:3221-9
Nesbitt, Kathryn M; Jaquins-Gerstl, Andrea; Skoda, Erin M et al. (2013) Pharmacological mitigation of tissue damage during brain microdialysis. Anal Chem 85:8173-9
Zhang, Jing; Liu, Yansheng; Jaquins-Gerstl, Andrea et al. (2012) Optimization for speed and sensitivity in capillary high performance liquid chromatography. The importance of column diameter in online monitoring of serotonin by microdialysis. J Chromatogr A 1251:54-62
Wang, Yuexiang; Michael, Adrian C (2012) Microdialysis probes alter presynaptic regulation of dopamine terminals in rat striatum. J Neurosci Methods 208:34-9

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