Presynaptic Type III Neuregulin 1 Is Required for Sustained Enhancement of Hippocampal Transmission by Nicotine and for Axonal Targeting of α7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors

Both the neuregulin 1 (Nrg1) and α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7*nAChRs) genes have been linked to schizophrenia and associated sensory–motor gating deficits. The prominence of nicotine addiction in schizophrenic patients is reflected in the normalization of gating deficits by nicotine self-administration. To assess the role of presynaptic type III Nrg1 at hippocampal–accumbens synapses, an important relay in sensory–motor gating, we developed a specialized preparation of chimeric circuits in vitro . Synaptic relays from Nrg1 tm1Lwr heterozygote ventral hippocampal slices to wild-type (WT) nucleus accumbens neurons (1) lack a sustained, α7*nAChRs-mediated phase of synaptic potentiation seen in comparable WT/WT circuits and (2) are deficient in targeting α7*nAChRs to presynaptic sites. Thus, selective alteration of the level of presynaptic type III Nrg1 dramatically affects the modulation of glutamatergic transmission at ventral hippocampal to nucleus accumbens synapses.