▲When PLCγ1 protein expression was suppressed, dopamine secretion increased (Photo = UNIST)
A domestic research team discovered a protein that regulates dopamine secretion, opening the way to treating brain diseases caused by abnormal secretion of dopamine, such as depression and hyperactivity.
On the 14th, Professor Kim Jae-ik’s research team in the Department of Life Sciences at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) announced for the first time in the world that they had discovered for the first time in the world that ‘PLCγ1’ protein, a key signal transduction factor in dopamine neurons, regulates dopamine secretion.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter present in the central nervous system that performs various functions related to voluntary movement, motivation, and emotional regulation. When dopamine is secreted appropriately, it causes positive effects such as happiness and reward. However, if there is an abnormality in secretion, abnormal phenomena such as depression, anxiety, hyperactivity, and decreased exercise capacity may appear.
Dopamine is mainly synthesized in dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain. The synthesized dopamine is secreted into the striatum and nucleus accumbens, where the nerve fiber terminals of neurons are distributed. The striatum plays an important role in voluntary movement, and the nucleus accumbens is a part of the brain that processes information about motivation and reward.
The synthesized dopamine moves to ‘synaptic vesicles’ that store neurotransmitters for secretion. This accumulated dopamine searches for a synapse where it can be released. In this process, vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT2), which transports dopamine to synaptic vesicles, and synapsin III, which moves vesicles to synapses where they can be released, are known to play important roles.
The research team found that dopamine secretion increased in the nerve fiber terminals of mice that had an incomplete PLCγ1 gene in dopamine neurons. The amount of VMAT2 and Synapsin III increased at the nerve fiber terminals, and this change played a critical role in increasing dopamine secretion, making it the world’s first to reveal that ‘PLCγ1 protein directly regulates dopamine secretion.’
The research team expected that identifying the signaling method mediated by the PLCγ1 protein that regulates dopamine secretion would contribute to the development of treatments for dopamine-related brain diseases.
Professor Jaeik Kim said, “Until now, there were difficulties in identifying the signaling mechanism within dopamine neurons due to limitations in experimental methods,” and “With improvements in real-time dopamine measurement in vivo and high-resolution synapse imaging methods, the role of PLCγ1 specific to dopamine neurons has been newly discovered.” “We were able to find out,” he explained.
This study was conducted jointly with the Korea Brain Research Institute and was published in the November 1st issue of ‘Experimental & Molecular Medicine (EMM)’, a major academic journal in the life sciences field.
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2023-11-14 02:29:19
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