Alteration of methamphetamine-induced striatal dopamine release in mint-1 knockout mice

Mint-1, which is also called as X11 or mammalian Lin10, protein has been implicated in the synaptic vesicle exocytosis and the targeting and localization of synaptic membrane proteins. Here, we established mint-1 gene knockout (mint-1 KO) mice and investigated vesicular and transporter-mediated dopamine (DA) release evoked by high K(+) and methamphetamine (METH), respectively. Compared with wild-type control, high K(+)-evoked striatal DA release was attenuated, but not significantly, in the KO mice as measured by microdialysis method. The METH-induced DA release was significantly attenuated in the KO mice. In addition, METH-induced stereotypy was also significantly attenuated in the KO mice. Mint-1 KO mice showed more sensitive and prominent behavioral response to an approaching object as compared with wild-type mice. These results suggest that mint-1 protein is involved in transporter-mediated DA release induced by METH.