Autoreceptors Chronically Enhance Dopamine Neuron Pacemaker Activity

Activation of D2 autoreceptors on midbrain dopamine neurons has been shown previously to acutely open K channels to inhibit intrinsically generated pacemaker activity. Here we report that D2 autoreceptors act chronically to produce an opposite action: to increase the speed and regularity of repetitive action potential firing. Voltage-, current-, and dynamic-clamp experiments, using conventional whole-cell and perforated patch-clamp recording, with cultured rat midbrain dopamine neurons show that a change in the number of functional A-type K channels alters firing rate and susceptibility to irregularity produced by other channels. cAMP and protein kinase A mediate the long-term action of D2 receptors in a manner that counters the short-term effect of this signaling pathway on K channel gating. We conclude that D2 autoreceptors, in addition to mediating acute negative feedback, are responsible for long-term enhancement of the rate and fidelity of dopamine neuron pacemaker activity.

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