{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.017699115044247787, 'fraction_numerical': 0.012782694198623401, 'mean_word_length': 5.832214765100671, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Depolarizing stimuli induce high levels of dopamine synthesis in fetal rat sensory neurons

To investigate the role of activity-dependent mechanisms in sensory transmitter development, we examined the effect of depolarizing stimuli on tyrosine hydroxylase expression and dopamine synthesis in cells of the fetal rat petrosal ganglion, a model of catecholaminergic sensory neurons. Although dopaminergic traits are normally detectable in only 10–20% of ganglion neurones, exposure to depolarizing concentrations of potassium chloride (40 mM) or veratridine (10 µM) in culture induced tyrosine hydroxylase expression in 100% of petrosal neurons and a 10-fold increase in dopamine content. Tyrosine hydroxylase expression remained elevated in a subset of neurons following return to control conditions, suggesting that chronic depolarization elicits a phenotypic switch in some cells. These data show for the first time that transmitter expression in developing sensory neurons can be regulated by activity-related cues.