Adenosine A2A receptor-expressing neurons in the striatum regulate sleep behaviors

OBJECTIVE The high prevalence of sleep disturbance has been found in patients with striatum-related neurodegenerative disorders.In the striatum,there are abundant adenosine A2A receptors(A2ARs)whichhavebeen reported to mediatesleepbehavior for adenosine.We hypothesized that the A2AR-expressing neurons in the striatum are involved in sleep-wake regulation.METHODS We employed a chemogenetic technique,designer receptor exclusively activated by designer drug(DREADD),to specifically and non-invasively manipulate the neuron activity based on the principle of Cre/Lox P recombination,EEG/electromyogram recording for sleep-wake behaviors,the neural tracing approach toselectively visualize the perikarya of A2AR-expressing neurons and their axons by adeno-associated virus(AAV)encoding humanized Renilla green fluorescent(hr GFP)as a tracerin A2AR-Cre mice.In addition,we used immunoelectron microscopy,patch-clamp technique,and optogenetics in A2AR-Cre mice to selectively characterize the synapse and functional connectivity between the A2AR-expressing neurons and the neuron of their downstream targets in vitro.RESULTS The activation of A2AR-expressing neurons in rostral,centromedial and centrolateral striatum increased non-rapid eye movement(non-REM,NREM)sleep,concomitant with a reduction in wakefulness,whereas the activation of A2AR-expressing neurons in caudal striatum didn′t alter sleep-wake profiles at all.Topographical projections in the sagittal section showed that the axons of A2ARexpressing neurons from rostral striatum distributed in the rostral external globuspallidus(GPe)with a discoidal region paralleled to the striato-pallidal border,while the axons of the A2AR-expressing neurons from the central striatum not only distributed in the rostral GPe,but also in the caudal GPe with a similar distributing pattern as did in rostral neurons.However,the axons of A2ARexpressing neurons from caudal striatum just scattered in the caudal GPe.Based on our anatomical findings and patch-clamp technique combining with optogenetics,we found that A2AR neurons in the rostral striatum preferentially formed inhibitory synapses with parvalbumin(PV)-positive neurons in the rostral GPe,while A2AR neurons in the caudal striatum preferentially formed inhibitory synapses with PV-negative neurons in the caudal GPe.CONCLUSION The present results indicated that the A2AR-expressing neurons in rostral and central striatum are involved in sleep-wake regulation,probably via innervating PV-positive neurons in the GPe.