BRAIN DOPAMINE AND AMINO-ACID-CONCENTRATIONS IN LURCHER MUTANT MICE

Lurcher mutant mice are characterized by massive degeneration of the c erebellum, including Purkinje cells and granule cells, as well as for the loss of neurons from the inferior olive, Concentrations of dopamin e and two of its metabolites and of several amino acid neurotransmitte rs were determined in the cerebellum and in other brain regions of the se mutants. By comparison to wild-type mice of the same background str ain, glutamate and taurine concentrations were reduced in the Lurcher cerebellum, No decrease was found for aspartate, gamma-aminobutyric ac id (GABA), glycine, as well as dopamine and its metabolites. Moreover, no neurochemical alterations occurred in the brain stem, thalamus, or neostriatum of Lurcher mutants, A selective reduction of glutamate co ncentration was found in the hippocampus, while all amino acids measur ed were decreased in the entorhinal-piriform areas. These results indi cate region-selective reductions of neurotransmitter concentrations in a mouse mutant with a defined cerebellar cortical pathology. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.