Striatal Cholinergic Interneurons Control Motor Behavior and Basal Ganglia Function in Experimental Parkinsonism
Nicolas Maurice,
Martine Liberge,
Florence Jaouen,
Samira Ztaou,
Marwa Hanini,
Jeremy Camon,
Karl Deisseroth,
Marianne Amalric,
Lydia Kerkerian-Le Goff,
Corinne Beurrier
Affiliations
Nicolas Maurice
Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7288, Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille (IBDM), 13288 Marseille cedex 9, France
Martine Liberge
Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7291, FR3C 3512, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, 13331 Marseille cedex 3, France
Florence Jaouen
Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7288, Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille (IBDM), 13288 Marseille cedex 9, France
Samira Ztaou
Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7291, FR3C 3512, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, 13331 Marseille cedex 3, France
Marwa Hanini
Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7288, Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille (IBDM), 13288 Marseille cedex 9, France
Jeremy Camon
Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7291, FR3C 3512, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, 13331 Marseille cedex 3, France
Karl Deisseroth
Departments of Bioengineering and Psychiatry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94305, USA
Marianne Amalric
Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7291, FR3C 3512, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives, 13331 Marseille cedex 3, France
Lydia Kerkerian-Le Goff
Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7288, Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille (IBDM), 13288 Marseille cedex 9, France
Corinne Beurrier
Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 7288, Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille (IBDM), 13288 Marseille cedex 9, France
Despite evidence showing that anticholinergic drugs are of clinical relevance in Parkinson’s disease (PD), the causal role of striatal cholinergic interneurons (CINs) in PD pathophysiology remains elusive. Here, we show that optogenetic inhibition of CINs alleviates motor deficits in PD mouse models, providing direct demonstration for their implication in parkinsonian motor dysfunctions. As neural correlates, CIN inhibition in parkinsonian mice differentially impacts the excitability of striatal D1 and D2 medium spiny neurons, normalizes pathological bursting activity in the main basal ganglia output structure, and increases the functional weight of the direct striatonigral pathway in cortical information processing. By contrast, CIN inhibition in non-lesioned mice does not affect locomotor activity, equally modulates medium spiny neuron excitability, and does not modify spontaneous or cortically driven activity in the basal ganglia output, suggesting that the role of these interneurons in motor function is highly dependent on dopamine tone.