Targeted expression of μ-opioid receptors in a subset of striatal direct-pathway neurons restores opiate reward.

Abstract

SUMMARYMu-Opioid Receptors (MOR) are necessary for the analgesic and addictive effects of opioids such as morphine, but the MOR-expressing neuronal populations that mediate the distinct opiate effects remain elusive. Here we devised a novel conditional BAC rescue strategy to show that mice with targeted MOR expression in a subpopulation of striatal direct-pathway neurons enriched in the striosome and nucleus accumbens, in an otherwise MOR-null background, restore opiate reward, opiate-induced striatal dopamine release, and partially restore motivation to self-administer opiates. However, they lack opiate analgesia or withdrawal. Importantly, we used Cre-mediated deletion of the rescued MOR transgene to establish that striatal, rather than a few extrastriatal sites of MOR transgene expression, is needed for the restoration of opiate reward. Together, our study demonstrates that a subpopulation of striatal direct-pathway neurons is sufficient to support opiate reward-driven behaviors and provides a novel intersectional genetic approach to dissect neurocircuit-specific gene function in vivo.