PMID: 3772434Nov 1, 1986Paper

Expression of the weaver gene in dopamine-containing neural systems is dose-dependent and affects both striatal and nonstriatal regions

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
S Roffler-Tarlov, A M Graybiel

Abstract

In an earlier report we presented evidence pointing to a differential effect of the mutant gene weaver on the dopamine-containing fiber systems innervating the striatum. In mice homozygous for the weaver mutation, there is a severe loss of dopamine in the caudoputamen, the main target of the nigrostriatal system. By contrast, dopamine is entirely conserved in the nucleus accumbens, a target of the mesolimbic system, and is moderately affected in the olfactory tubercle. The present study shows that these defects in dopamine are gene dose-dependent, that they are established by the end of the first month of life, and that the losses are permanent and not progressive. As in homozygous weavers, the greatest defects in striatal dopamine in heterozygous weavers occur in the dorsolateral caudoputamen and the lateral olfactory tubercle. The abnormalities in the striatal dopamine content of weaver mice are not accompanied by abnormalities in the turnover of dopamine, judging from measurements of the dopamine metabolite dihydroxyphenylacetic acid. Norepinephrine content is also normal in each striatal region. No deficits in striatal dopamine occur in mice homozygous for the mutant genes staggerer and Purkinje cell degeneration, which, li...Continue Reading

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