Impaired dopamine release and uptake in R6/1 Huntington's disease model mice

Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive, neurodegenerative movement disorder. Here, we used fast-scan cyclic voltammetry to measure dopamine release and uptake in striatal brain slices from R6/1 HD model mice. Peak dopamine release ([DA](max)) was significantly diminished in R6/1 mice (52% of wild-type at 24 weeks of age). Similarly, dopamine released per locally applied electrical stimulus pulse ([DA](p)), which is [DA](max) corrected for uptake and electrode performance, was also diminished in R6/1 mice (43% of wild-type by 24 weeks of age). Moreover, V-max, the maximum rate of dopamine uptake, obtained by modeling the stimulated release plots, was decreased at 16 and 24 weeks of age in R6/1 mice (51 and 48% of wild-type, respectively). Thus, impairments in both dopamine release and uptake appear to progress in an age-dependent manner in R6/1 mice. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.