Presynaptic mu-opioid receptors regulate a late step of the secretory process in rat ventral tegmental area GABAergic neurons

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA)-containing interneurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) regulate the activity of dopaminergic neurons. These GABAergic interneurons are known to be innervated by synaptic terminals containing enkephalin, an endogenous ligand of μ-opioid receptors. Bath application of μ-opioid receptor agonists inhibits the activity of VTA GABAergic neurons but the mechanism whereby μ-opioid receptors regulate synaptic GABA release from these neurons has not been directly identified. Using cultured VTA neurons we have confirmed that μ-opioid receptor agonists inhibit synaptic GABA release. DAMGO, a selective μ-opioid receptor agonist, had four distinct effects on GABAergic IPSCs: (1) it inhibited the frequency and amplitude of spontaneous IPSCs (sIPSCs), (2) it reduced the amplitude of IPSCs evoked by single action potentials, (3) it inhibited the frequency, but not the amplitude of miniature IPSCs (mIPSCs), and (4) DAMGO inhibited mIPSCs evoked by ionomycin, a Ca²⁺ ionophore. The inhibition of action potential-evoked IPSCs and of spontaneous and ionomycin-evoked mIPSCs by DAMGO was prevented by the K⁺ channel blocker, 4-aminopyridine (4-AP). In conclusion, our work shows that one of the mechanisms through which μ-opioid receptors inhibit GABA release by VTA neurons is through inhibition of the secretory process at the nerve terminal level. In addition, considering that ionomycin stimulates exocytosis through a mechanism that should be insensitive to membrane polarization, our experiments with 4-AP suggest that K⁺ channels are implicated in the inhibition of the efficacy of the secretory process by μ-opioid receptors.