Publications

Dopaminergic neurotransmission is involved in several important brain functions, such as motor control, learning, reward-motivated behavior, and emotions. Dysfunctions of dopaminergic system may lead to the development of various neurological and psychiatric disorders, like Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, depression, and addictions. Despite years of sustained research, it is not fully established how dopaminergic neurotransmission governs these important functions through a relatively small number of neurons that release dopamine. Light-driven neurotechnologies, based on the use of small light-regulated molecules or overexpression of light-regulated proteins in neurons, have greatly contributed to the advancement of our understanding of dopaminergic circuits and our ability to control them selectively. Here, we overview the current state-of-the-art of light-driven control of dopaminergic neurotransmission. While we provide a concise guideline for the readers interested in pharmacological, pharmacogenetic, and optogenetic approaches to modulate dopaminergic neurotransmission, our primary focus is on the usage of photocaged and photo-switchable small dopaminergic molecules. We argue that photopharmacology, photoswitchable molecules of varied modalities, can be employed in a wide range of experimental paradigms, providing unprecedent insights into the principles of dopaminergic control, and represent the most promising light-based therapeutic approach for spatiotemporally precise correction of dopamine-related neural functions and pathologies.

JTD Keywords: Activation, Azobenzene, Caged compounds, Caged ligands, Catecholamine, D1, D2, Dendritic spines, Dopamine, Mechanisms, Neuromodulation, Neuronal circuits, Optogenetics, Optopharmacology, Phasic dopamine, Photoisomerization, Photolysi, Photopharmacology, Photoswitc, Protein-coupled receptors, Release

Cell membrane proteins are involved in a variety of biochemical pathways and therefore constitute important targets for therapy and development of new drugs. Bioanalytical platforms and binding assays using these membrane protein receptors for drug screening or diagnostic require the construction of well-characterized liposome and lipid bilayer arrays that act as support to prevent protein denaturation during biochip processing. Quantification of the protein receptors in the lipid membrane arrays is a key issue in order to produce reproducible and well-characterized chips. Herein, we report a novel immunochemical analytical approach for the quantification of membrane proteins (i.e., G-protein-coupled receptor, GPCR) in nanovesicles (NVs). The procedure allows direct determination of tagged receptors (i.e., c-myc tag) without any previous protein purification or extraction steps. The immunochemical method is based on a microplate ELISA format and quantifies this tag on proteins embedded in NVs with detectability in the picomolar range, using protein bioconjugates as reference standards. The applicability of the method is demonstrated through the quantification of the c-myc-olfactory receptor (OR, c-myc-OR1740) in the cell membrane NVs. The reported method opens the possibility to develop well-characterized drug-screening platforms based on G-coupled proteins embedded on membranes.

JTD Keywords: Bioelectronic nose, Competitive ELISA, G-protein-coupled receptors quantification, Natural vesicles, Olfactory receptors, Transmembrane proteins