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Chao OY, Pathak SS, Zhang H, Dunaway N, Li JS, Mattern C, Nikolaus S, Huston JP, Yang YM. Altered dopaminergic pathways and therapeutic effects of intranasal dopamine in two distinct mouse models of autism. Mol Brain 2020; 13:111. [PMID: 32778145 PMCID: PMC7418402 DOI: 10.1186/s13041-020-00649-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Accepted: 07/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The dopamine (DA) system has a profound impact on reward-motivated behavior and is critically involved in neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although DA defects are found in autistic patients, it is not well defined how the DA pathways are altered in ASD and whether DA can be utilized as a potential therapeutic agent for ASD. To this end, we employed a phenotypic and a genetic ASD model, i.e., Black and Tan BRachyury T+Itpr3tf/J (BTBR) mice and Fragile X Mental Retardation 1 knockout (Fmr1-KO) mice, respectively. Immunostaining of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) to mark dopaminergic neurons revealed an overall reduction in the TH expression in the substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area and dorsal striatum of BTBR mice, as compared to C57BL/6 J wild-type ones. In contrast, Fmr1-KO animals did not show such an alteration but displayed abnormal morphology of TH-positive axons in the striatum with higher "complexity" and lower "texture". Both strains exhibited decreased expression of striatal dopamine transporter (DAT) and increased spatial coupling between vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (VGLUT1, a label for glutamatergic terminals) and TH signals, while GABAergic neurons quantified by glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67) remained intact. Intranasal administration of DA rescued the deficits in non-selective attention, object-based attention and social approaching of BTBR mice, likely by enhancing the level of TH in the striatum. Application of intranasal DA to Fmr1-KO animals alleviated their impairment of social novelty, in association with reduced striatal TH protein. These results suggest that although the DA system is modified differently in the two ASD models, intranasal treatment with DA effectively rectifies their behavioral phenotypes, which may present a promising therapy for diverse types of ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Owen Y Chao
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, 1035 University Drive, Duluth, MN, 55812, USA
| | - Salil S Pathak
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, 1035 University Drive, Duluth, MN, 55812, USA
| | - Hao Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, 1035 University Drive, Duluth, MN, 55812, USA
| | - Nathan Dunaway
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, 1035 University Drive, Duluth, MN, 55812, USA
| | - Jay-Shake Li
- Department of Psychology, National Chung Cheng University, Minhsiung, Chiayi, Taiwan, Republic of China
| | - Claudia Mattern
- M et P Pharma AG, Emmetten, Switzerland
- Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, 33314, USA
| | - Susanne Nikolaus
- Clinic of Nuclear Medicine, Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Joseph P Huston
- Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf, Universitaetsstr. 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany.
| | - Yi-Mei Yang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, 1035 University Drive, Duluth, MN, 55812, USA.
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
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