Dopamine-galanin receptor heteromers modulate cholinergic neurotransmission in the rat ventral hippocampus

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that dopamine and galanin modulate cholinergic transmission in the hippocampus, but little is known about the mechanisms involved and their possible interactions. By using resonance energy transfer techniques in transfected mammalian cells, we demonstrated the existence of heteromers between the dopamine D1-like receptors (D1 and D5) and galanin Gal1, but not Gal2 receptors. Within the D1-Gal1 and D5-Gal1 receptor heteromers, dopamine receptor activation potentiated and dopamine receptor blockade counteracted MAPK activation induced by stimulation of Gal1 receptors, whereas Gal1 receptor activation or blockade did not modify D1-like receptor-mediated MAPK activation. Ability of a D1-like receptor antagonist to block galanin-induced MAPK activation (cross-antagonism) was used as a 'biochemical fingerprint' of D1-like-Gal1 receptor heteromers, allowing their identification in the rat ventral hippocampus. The functional role of D1-like-Gal receptor heteromers was demonstrated in synaptosomes from rat ventral hippocampus, where galanin facilitated acetylcholine release, but only with costimulation of D1-like receptors. Electrophysiological experiments in rat ventral hippocampal slices showed that these receptor interactions modulate hippocampal synaptic transmission. Thus, a D1-like receptor agonist that was ineffective when administered alone turned an inhibitory effect of galanin into an excitatory effect, an interaction that required cholinergic neurotransmission. Altogether, our results strongly suggest that D1-like-Gal1 receptor heteromers act as processors that integrate signals of two different neurotransmitters, dopamine and galanin, to modulate hippocampal cholinergic neurotransmission.