Silencing neurotransmission with membrane-tethered toxins

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Item Type:	Article
Title:	Silencing neurotransmission with membrane-tethered toxins
Creators Name:	Auer, S., Stuerzebecher, A.S., Juettner, R., Santos-Torres, J., Hanack, C., Frahm, S., Liehl, B. and Ibanez-Tallon, I.
Abstract:	At synaptic terminals, high voltage-activated Ca(v)2.1 and Ca(v)2.2 calcium channels have an essential and joint role in coupling the presynaptic action potential to neurotransmitter release. Here we show that membrane-tethered toxins allowed cell-autonomous blockade of each channel individually or simultaneously in mouse neurons in vivo. We report optimized constitutive, inducible and Cre recombinase-dependent lentiviral vectors encoding fluorescent recombinant toxins, and we also validated the toxin-based strategy in a transgenic mouse model. Toxins delivered by lentiviral vectors selectively inhibited the dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway, and transgenic mice with targeted expression in nociceptive peripheral neurons displayed long-lasting suppression of chronic pain. Optimized tethered toxins are tools for cell-specific and temporal manipulation of ion channel-mediated activities in vivo, including blockade of neurotransmitter release.
Keywords:	Calcium Channel Blockers, N-Type Calcium Channels, Cultured Cells, Dopamine, Integrases, Pain, Synaptic Transmission, omega-Conotoxins, Animals, Mice, Rats
Source:	Nature Methods
ISSN:	1548-7091
Publisher:	Nature Publishing Group
Volume:	7
Number:	3
Page Range:	229-236
Date:	March 2010
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.1425
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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