Nicotine-Induced Enhancement of Glutamatergic and GABAergic Synaptic Transmission in the Mouse Amygdala

Presynaptic nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are thought to mediate some of the cognitive and behavioral effects of nicotine. The olfactory projection to the amygdala, and intra-amygdaloid projections, are limbic relays involved in behavioral reinforcement, a property influenced by nicotine. Co-cultures consisting of murine olfactory bulb (OB) explants and dispersed amygdala neurons were developed to reconstruct this pathway in vitro. Whole cell patch-clamp recordings were obtained from amygdala neurons contacted by OB explant neurites, and spontaneous and evoked synaptic currents were characterized. The majority of the 108 innervated amygdala neurons exhibited glutamatergic spontaneous postsynaptic currents (PSCs), 20% exhibited GABAergic spontaneous PSCs, and 17% exhibited both. Direct extracellular stimulation of OB explants elicited glutamatergic synaptic currents in amygdala neurons. Antibodies to nAChR subunits co-localized with an antibody to synapsin I, a presynaptic marker, along OB explant processes, consistent with the targeting of nAChR protein to presynaptic sites of the mitral cell projections. Hence, we examined the role of presynaptic nAChRs in modulating synaptic transmission in the OB–amygdala co-cultures. Focal application of 500 nM to 1 μM nicotine for 5–60 s markedly increased the frequency of spontaneous PSCs, without a change in the amplitude, in 39% of neurons that exhibited glutamatergic spontaneous PSCs (average peak fold increase = 125.2 ± 33.3). Nicotine also enhanced evoked glutamatergic currents elicited by direct stimulation of OB explant fibers. Nicotine increased the frequency of spontaneous PSCs, without a change in the amplitude, in 35% of neurons that exhibited GABAergic spontaneous PSCs (average peak fold increase = 63.9 ± 34.3). Thus activation of presynaptic nAChRs can modulate glutamatergic as well as GABAergic synaptic transmission in the amygdala. These results suggest that behaviors mediated by olfactory projections may be modulated by presynaptic nAChRs in the amygdala, where integration of olfactory and pheromonal input is thought to occur.