D 2 receptors receive paracrine neurotransmission and are consistently targeted to a subset of synaptic structures in an identified neuron of the crustacean stomatogastric nervous system

Dopamine (DA) modulates motor systems in phyla as diverse as nematodes and arthropods up through chordates. A comparison of dopaminergic systems across a broad phylogenetic range should reveal shared organizing principles. The pyloric network, located in the stomatogastric ganglion (STG), is an important model for neuromodulation of motor networks. The effects of DA on this network have been well characterized at the circuit and cellular levels in the spiny lobster, Panulirus interruptus . Here we provide the first data about the physical organization of the DA signaling system in the STG and the function of D 2 receptors in pyloric neurons. Previous studies showed that DA altered intrinsic firing properties and synaptic output in the pyloric dilator (PD) neuron, in part by reducing calcium currents and increasing outward potassium currents. We performed single cell reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) experiments to show that PD neurons exclusively expressed a type 2 (D 2αPan ) DA receptor. This was confirmed by using confocal microscopy in conjunction with immunohistochemistry (IHC) on STG wholemount preparations containing dye‐filled PD neurons. Immunogold electron microscopy showed that surface receptors were concentrated in fine neurites/terminal swellings and vesicle‐laden varicosities in the synaptic neuropil. Double‐label IHC experiments with tyrosine hydroxylase antiserum suggested that the D 2αPan receptors received volume neurotransmissions. Receptors were further mapped onto three‐dimensional models of PD neurons built from Neurolucida tracings of confocal stacks from the IHC experiments. The data showed that D 2αPan receptors were selectively targeted to approximately 40% of synaptic structures in any given PD neuron, and were nonuniformly distributed among neurites. J. Comp. Neurol. 518:255–276, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.