# Neurons of the medial habenula regulate behavioral responses to nicotine in mouse

> **NIH NIH R00** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · 2021 · $248,999

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The long-term goal of my research is to determine the mechanism by which the brain responds to the presence
of nicotine and leads to voluntary regulation of its intake. The ultimate purpose is to develop a better
understanding of how positively and negatively rewarding effects of this drug can lead to nicotine craving or
nicotine aversive behavior, and how these two opposing effects are both regulated by the habenulo-
interpeduncular circuitry. The studies detailed in this proposal will focus specifically on the neurophysiology of
the medial habenula and the behaviors associated with activity of neurons in that region.
 Nicotine addiction, fed by regular tobacco smoking or chewing, or more recently by e-cigarette use, is a
leading cause of death in both the developed and developing world. Nicotine acts in the body as an extremely
potent agonist of the eponymous nicotinic acetylcholine receptor family (nAChR), which are ion channel
proteins with functions in neurotransmission in the brain and at neuromuscular junctions in the periphery.
NAChr are ubiquitous throughout the brain, and the mechanisms by which nicotine influences behavior to
produce physiological dependency are complex. A specific nucleus in the epithalamus called the medial
habenula has been implicated as a locus where circulating nicotine binds directly to a specific subtype of
nAChR, in which genetic mutants have been found to be upregulated in heavy smokers, to produce
downstream behavioral responses regulating voluntary nicotine intake. Intriguingly, a recently identified
calcium-activated chloride channel called TMEM16A (Transmembrane protein of unknown function 16A) is
very highly expressed in the medial habenula but almost nowhere else in the brain, and it is likely to contribute
strongly to the firing properties of mHb neurons, though the mechanism by which nicotine produces its effects
on the habenula and its associated circuitry is not known. I propose to investigate the mechanism of nicotine
aversion in medial habenula neurons, and to begin by studying the TMEM16A channel as a functional
contributor to nicotine aversion. In the first aim pursued during the K99 phase, I will use self-administration
assays with direct habenular nicotine microinjections, as well as withdrawal assays with long term exposure
followed by deprivation, to examine how acute and chronic nicotine affects behavioral responses mediated in
the medial habenula and how knockout of the Tmem16a gene in mice affects those effects. In the second aim,
I will begin to more generally probe the medial habenula's function by implanting microendoscopes and using
in vivo fluorescence imaging experiments to directly visualize neuronal activity in response to acute and
chronic nicotine exposure. In the third aim, taking place following the transition to independence, I will combine
the in vivo imaging and self-administration paradigms to rigorously investigate medial habenular neuron
function ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10242821
- **Project number:** 5R00DA041500-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Christian Peters
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $248,999
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-05-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10242821

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10242821, Neurons of the medial habenula regulate behavioral responses to nicotine in mouse (5R00DA041500-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10242821. Licensed CC0.

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