Biology subjects

Touponse, G. C.

Publications and source records attributed to Touponse, G. C..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Local control of dopamine release in nucleus accumbens gates opioid withdrawal aversion

The opioid crisis has emphasized the need for more effective treatments for opioid use disorder (OUD)1-3, which is characterized by habitual opioid use to avoid withdrawal symptoms4,5. Both physical and affective symptoms contribute to opioid withdrawal yet whether different neural mechanisms mediate these different symptom domains and contribute distinctly to opioid relapse is unknown. While neurons expressing mu opioid receptors (MORs) gate opioids reinforcing effects6-8 by increasing dopamine (DA) release in nucleus accumbens (NAc), sharp decreases in NAc DA release are associated with withdrawal9-11, the cellular and circuit mechanisms of which are unknown. Here we describe an unusual population of evolutionarily-conserved MOR+ neurons in the NAc expressing the transcription factor Tshz1. Increased activity in these neurons is required for withdrawal aversion learning. Deletion of MORs in Tshz1 neurons prevented withdrawal-induced decreases in DA release and affective aversion, but not physical symptoms associated with withdrawal. Pharmacological activation of mGluR8, which is preferentially expressed in Tshz1 neurons, reduced withdrawal aversion. Thus, by dissociating the circuit mechanisms contributing to the physical and affective components of opioid withdrawal focusing on the critical role of Tshz1 neurons, we have identified a novel druggable target with therapeutic potential for treating key OUD withdrawal symptoms.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Serotonin modulates nucleus accumbens circuits to suppress aggression

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5HT) has long been considered anti-aggressive, but the mechanisms by which 5HT regulates downstream circuits to control aggression remain unclear. Combining fiber photometry, optogenetics, and miniaturized microscope recordings in double-transgenic mice, we find that 5HT levels ramp up in the nucleus accumbens during aggression, inhibiting a subset of D1 medium spiny neurons to suppress attacks. Our results reveal a novel 5HT-mediated neuromodulatory mechanism for limiting aggressive behavior.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Cholinergic modulation of dopamine release drives effortful behavior

Effort is costly: given a choice, we tend to avoid it1. But in many cases, effort adds value to the ensuing rewards2. From ants3 to humans4, individuals prefer rewards that had been harder to achieve. This counterintuitive process may promote reward-seeking even in resource-poor environments, thus enhancing evolutionary fitness5. Despite its ubiquity, the neural mechanisms supporting this behavioral effect are poorly understood. Here we show that effort amplifies the dopamine response to an otherwise identical reward, and this amplification depends on local modulation of dopamine axons by acetylcholine. High-effort rewards evoke rapid acetylcholine release from local interneurons in the nucleus accumbens. Acetylcholine then binds to nicotinic receptors on dopamine axon terminals to augment dopamine release when reward is delivered. Blocking the cholinergic modulation blunts dopamine release selectively in high-effort contexts, impairing effortful behavior while leaving low-effort reward consumption intact. These results reconcile in vitro studies, which have long demonstrated that acetylcholine can trigger dopamine release directly through dopamine axons6-11; with in vivo studies that failed to observe such modulation12-14, but did not examine high-effort contexts. Our findings uncover a mechanism that drives effortful behavior through context-dependent local interactions between acetylcholine and dopamine axons.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

5-HT2C receptors in the nucleus accumbens constrain the rewarding effects of MDMA

MDMA is a promising adjunct to psychotherapy and has well-known abuse liability, although less than other amphetamine analogs. While the reinforcing dopamine (DA)-releasing properties of MDMA are on par with methamphetamine (METH), MDMA is a far more potent serotonin (5-HT) releaser, via the 5-HT transporter (SERT). MDMA-mediated 5-HT release in a major reward center, the nucleus accumbens (NAc), drives prosocial behaviors via 5-HT1BR activation. We hypothesized that this prosocial mechanism contributes to the reduced reinforcing properties of MDMA compared to METH and used a platform of assays to predict the balance of prosocial and abuse-linked effects of (R)-MDMA, a novel entactogen in clinical development. NAc DA release, measured by GRAB-DA photometry in vivo, increased in proportion to MDMA (7.5 and 15 mg/kg, i.p.) and METH (2 mg/kg i.p.)-conditioned place preference (CPP). Using conditional knockouts (cKOs) for DAT and SERT, microdialysis, and photometry, we found that MDMA-released 5-HT limited MDMA-released DA through actions in the NAc, rather than at ventral tegmental area DAergic cell bodies. SERT cKO reduced the MDMA dose required for CPP three-fold. This enhanced MDMA-CPP and increased DA release were replicated by intra-NAc infusion of either a 5-HT reuptake inhibitor (escitalopram) to prevent MDMA interaction with SERT, or a 5-HT2CR antagonist (SB242084), but not by the 5-HT1BR antagonist NAS-181. These data support separate mechanisms for the low abuse potential versus prosocial effect of MDMA. Using this platform of assays, (R)-MDMA is predicted to have prosocial effects and low abuse potential.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Striatal dopamine integrates cost, benefit and motivation

Dopamine (DA) release in the ventral and dorsal striatum has been linked to reward processing and motivation, but there are longstanding controversies about whether DA release in these key target structures primarily reflects costs or benefits, and how these signals vary with motivation. Here we apply behavioral economic principles to generate demand curves for rewards while directly measuring DA release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and dorsolateral striatum (DLS) via a genetically-encoded sensor. By independently varying costs and benefits, we reveal that DA release in both structures incorporates reward magnitude and sunk cost. Surprisingly, motivation was inversely correlated with reward-evoked DA release; the higher the motivation for rewards the lower the reward-evoked DA release. These relationships between DA release, cost and motivation remained identical when we used optogenetic activation of striatal DA inputs as a reward. Our results reconcile previous disparate findings by demonstrating that during operant tasks, striatal DA release simultaneously encodes cost, benefit and motivation but in distinct manners over different time scales.

neuroscience↗