The Synaptic Vesicle Priming Protein Munc13 Mediates Evoked Somatodendritic Dopamine Release.
Overview
- Vollum Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, 97239
- Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115
Abstract
Midbrain dopamine neurons release dopamine not only from their axons but also from their somata and dendrites. Shared and distinct properties have been proposed for somatodendritic and axonal release, but the mechanisms of somatodendritic release remain unclear. We here used gene knock-out, electrophysiology, and imaging to define roles of the synaptic vesicle priming protein Munc13 in somatodendritic dopamine release in comparison with axonal secretion. We characterized mice of either sex and found that Munc13 ablation decreased evoked but not spontaneous somatodendritic dopamine transmission measured as D2 receptor-mediated currents. Imaging with a fluorescent sensor confirmed the importance of Munc13 in evoked somatodendritic and axonal dopamine secretion. Pharmacological experiments revealed a modest contribution of release from norepinephrine axons to D2 receptor-mediated currents, and the relative contribution was enhanced after Munc13 knock-out. Altogether, these data establish important roles of Munc13 in evoked somatodendritic release. These roles are similar to Munc13 functions in axonal dopamine release and at fast synapses. Spontaneous midbrain dopamine release was not impaired by Munc13 ablation from dopamine neurons and may rely on a release pathway that is independent of the prototypical release machinery employed at synapses.
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
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Data
Datasets cited
- zenodo:20067463, at Zenodo; found in the text, “Experimental design and statistical analyses”
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Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record
Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 5 authors, 6 keywords, 13 MeSH terms, 6 funders, 106 references, 4 RRIDs.
Cite
This paper
Lebowitz, J. J., Banerjee, A., Handy, G., Williams, J. T., & Kaeser, P. S. (2026). The Synaptic Vesicle Priming Protein Munc13 Mediates Evoked Somatodendritic Dopamine Release. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 46(30), e2320252026. https://
BibTeX
@article{lebowitz2026syn
author = {Lebowitz, Joseph J and Banerjee, Aditi and Handy, Gillian and Williams, John T and Kaeser, Pascal S},
title = {{The Synaptic Vesicle Priming Protein Munc13 Mediates Evoked Somatodendritic Dopamine Release}},
journal = {The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
volume = {46},
number = {30},
pages = {e2320252026},
publisher = {Society for Neuroscience},
issn = {0270-6474},
doi = {10.1523/
url = {https://
pmid = {42362379},
pmcid = {PMC13420364}
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
AU - Lebowitz, Joseph J
AU - Banerjee, Aditi
AU - Handy, Gillian
AU - Williams, John T
AU - Kaeser, Pascal S
TI - The Synaptic Vesicle Priming Protein Munc13 Mediates Evoked Somatodendritic Dopamine Release
T2 - The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
J2 - J Neurosci
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/
VL - 46
IS - 30
SP - e2320252026
SN - 0270-6474
PB - Society for Neuroscience
DO - 10.1523/
UR - https://
LA - en
ER -
CSL-JSON
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