Tobacco use in developed countries has been estimated to cause nearly 20% of all deaths, making it the largest single contributor to premature death (Peto et al., 1992). Nicotine is the primary component of tobacco that supports continued use, presumably exerting its behavior effects by initially acting upon nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). This project investigates basic properties of nAChRs at synapses, with the expectation that those properties underlie some of the systems physiology and behaviors investigated in the other two projects. The application focuses on how nAChRs respond to the changing concentrations of nicotine experienced by a smoker. As the nicotine concentrations changes, the population of nAChRs distributes among functional states (i.e. activated, desensitized, and long-term inactivated states) that may underlie the reward mediated by nicotine as well as contributing to aspects of tolerance and withdrawal. After determining quantitatively the calcium signals mediated by nAChRs, we will determine how those calcium signals may modulate hippocampal synapses. Finally, we will determine how the changing activity of nAChRs modulates the responses of ventral tegmental area neurons. Patch clamp electrophysiology, quantitative calcium measurements, and fluorescence techniques will be used to investigate the hypothesis that nicotine delivered by smoking activates and desensitizes nAChRs, which are constantly distributing among functional states. Microisland cultures and brain slices will be used to study tissue from mutant mice, which serve as the fundamental and unifying tool for this Program Project application. The work will initially utilize mutant mice lacking alpha3, alpha5, alpha7, or beta2, and the mouse containing the alpha7 (L247T) subunit, which exhibits diminished desensitization. All of these mice are presently available. Because the number of nAChRs is increased in the brains of smokers, it has been argued that addicted smokers medicate themselves with nicotine to control the level nAChR desensitization and inactivation. Thus, our studies of the changing functional states of nAChRs may have direct importance for understanding issues fundamental to nicotine addiction.
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