Acetylcholinesterase activity in the brain of dystonia musculorum (Dst(dt-J)) mutant mice.

The dystonia musculorum (Dst(dt-J)) mutant mouse suffers from severe motor coordination deficits, characterized, among various symptoms, by a spastic ataxia and dystonic movements, indicating central defects in motor structures in addition to dystrophy of peripheral sensory tracts and partial degeneration of spinocerebellar tracts. Neurochemical alterations, notably in dopaminergic and noradrenergic systems, were previously observed in basal ganglia and cerebellum. A quantitative histochemical cartography of brain acetylcholinesterase activity in Dst(dt-J) mutants, in comparison with controls, revealed increases in the neostriatum, the habenula-interpeduncular pathway, the cholinergic pedunculopontine nucleus and its target structures, the thalamus, major regions of the basal ganglia, such as substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area, globus pallidum, and subthalamic nucleus, as well as in associated extrapyramidal regions, such as red nucleus, brainstem reticular formation, and superior colliculus. These acetylcholinesterase changes may play a role in motor deficits, particularly the dystonic symptomatology observed in the mutation.