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Updated: Mar 13, 2026

Comprehensive Profiling of Dopamine Regulation in Substantia Nigra and Ventral Tegmental Area
Published on: August 10, 2012
The magnificent two: histamine and the H3 receptor as key modulators of striatal circuitry
1Yale University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, 34 Park St, New Haven, CT, USA.
Abstract:
Histaminergic dysfunction has been recently linked to tic disorders and to aberrant striatal function. There is a particular interest in the histamine 3 receptor (H3R) due to its clinical implications for treating multiple disorders and its high expression in the brain. Striatal histamine (HA) modulates through the H3R in complex ways the release of striatal neurotransmitters into this brain region. The H3R has been classically described to be coupled to Gi, although there is evidence that revealed that striatal H3R forms heteromers with the dopamine receptors 1 and 2 in the medium spiny neurons (MSNs) than changes this signaling. Moreover, new data described for the first time a complete, segregated and time dependent signaling after H3R activation in the two types of MSNs (D1R-MSNs and D2R-MSNs). The aim of this review is to update the role of HA and H3R in striatal function at a molecular and signaling levels.
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