Dysregulation of the Basal Ganglia Indirect Pathway in Early SymptomaticQ175Huntington's Disease Mice

Abstract

The debilitating psychomotor symptoms of Huntington's disease (HD) are linked partly to degeneration of the basal ganglia indirect pathway. At early symptomatic stages, before major cell loss, indirect pathway neurons exhibit numerous cellular and synaptic changes in HD and its models. However, the impact of these alterations on circuit activity remains poorly understood. To address this gap, optogenetic- and reporter-guided electrophysiological interrogation was used in early symptomatic male and femaleQ175HD mice. D2 dopamine receptor-expressing striatal projection neurons (D2-SPNs) were hypoactive during synchronous cortical slow-wave activity, consistent with known reductions in dendritic excitability and cortical input strength. Downstream prototypic parvalbumin-expressing external globus pallidus (PV+GPe) neurons discharged at 2-3 times their normal rate, even during periods of D2-SPN inactivity, arguing that defective striatopallidal inhibition was not the only cause of their hyperactivity. Indeed, PV+GPe neurons also exhibited abnormally elevated autonomous firingex vivo. Optogenetic inhibition of PV+GPe neuronsin vivopartially and fully ameliorated the abnormal hypoactivity of postsynaptic subthalamic nucleus (STN) and putative PV–GPe neurons, respectively. In contrast to STN neurons whose autonomous firing is impaired in HD mice, putative PV–GPe neuron activity was unaffectedex vivo, implying that excessive inhibition was responsible for their hypoactivityin vivo. Together with previous studies, these data demonstrate that (1) indirect pathway nuclei are dysregulated inQ175mice through changes in presynaptic activity and/or intrinsic cellular and synaptic properties; and (2) prototypic PV+GPe neuron hyperactivity and excessive target inhibition are prominent features of early HD pathophysiology.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTThe early symptoms of Huntington's disease (HD) are linked to degenerative changes in the action-suppressing indirect pathway of the basal ganglia. Consistent with this linkage, the intrinsic properties of cells in this pathway exhibit complex alterations in HD and its models. However, the impact of these changes on activity is poorly understood. Using electrophysiological and optogenetic approaches, we demonstrate that the indirect pathway is highly dysregulated in early symptomatic HD mice through changes in upstream activity and/or intrinsic properties. Furthermore, we reveal that hyperactivity of external globus pallidus neurons and excessive inhibition of their targets are key features of early HD pathophysiology. Together, these findings could help to inform the development and targeting of viral-based, gene therapeutic approaches for HD.