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The Road to Discovery of Neuronal Nicotinic Cholinergic Receptor Subtypes

  • Chapter
Nicotine Psychopharmacology

Part of the book series: Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology ((HEP,volume 192))

Abstract

The discovery that mammalian brain expresses the mRNAs for nine different nicotinic cholinergic receptor subunits (α2–α7, β2–β4) that form functional receptors when expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes suggests that many different types of nicotinic cholinergic receptors (nAChRs) might be expressed in the mammalian brain., Using an historical approach, this chapter reviews some of the progress made in identifying the nAChR subtypes that seem to play a vital role in modulating dopaminergic function. nAChR subtypes that are expressed in dopamine neurons, as well as neurons that interact with dopamine neurons (glutamatergic, GABAergic), serve as the focus of this review. Subjects that are highlighted include the discovery of a low affinity α4β2* nAChR, the identity of recently characterized α6* nAChRs, and the finding that these α6* receptors have the highest affinity for receptor activation of any of the native receptors that have been characterized to date. Topics that have been ignored in other recent reviews of this area, such as the discovery and potential importance of alternative transcripts, are presented along with a discussion of their potential importance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    Allan C. Collins, Outi Salminen, Michael J. Marks, Paul Whiteaker & Sharon R. Grady

  2. University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Outi Salminen

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  1. Allan C. Collins
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  2. Outi Salminen
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  3. Michael J. Marks
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  4. Paul Whiteaker
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  5. Sharon R. Grady
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Pinney Associates, 3 Bethesda Metro Center, Bethesda, MD, 20814-3472, USA

    Jack E. Henningfield

  2. UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90024-1759, USA

    Edythe D. London

  3. Center for Brain Research, Bornova, Ege University, Izmir, 35100, Turkey

    Sakire Pogun

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Collins, A.C., Salminen, O., Marks, M.J., Whiteaker, P., Grady, S.R. (2009). The Road to Discovery of Neuronal Nicotinic Cholinergic Receptor Subtypes. In: Henningfield, J.E., London, E.D., Pogun, S. (eds) Nicotine Psychopharmacology. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, vol 192. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69248-5_4

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