Molecular characterization of G-protein coupled receptors: isolation and cloning of a D1 dopamine receptor

Dopaminergic modulation of neuronal excitability in the striatum and nucleus accumbens

The striatum and its ventral extension, the nucleus accumbens, are involved in behaviors as diverse as motor planning, drug seeking, and learning. Invariably, these striatally mediated behaviors depend on intact dopaminergic innervation. However, the mechanisms by which dopamine modulates neuronal function in the striatum and nucleus accumbens have been difficult to elucidate. Recent electrophysiological studies have revealed that dopamine alters both voltage-dependent conductances and synaptic transmission, resulting in state-dependent modulation of target cells. These studies make clear predictions about how dopamine, particularly via D1 receptor activation, should alter the responsiveness of striatal neurons to extrinsic excitatory synaptic activity.

No association between alleles or genotypes at the dopamine transporter gene and schizophrenia

The dopamine transporter gene (DAT1) is an important candidate gene for schizophrenia. A 40-bp VNTR (variable number of tandem repeats) polymorphism of DAT1 has been typed in 105 schizophrenic patients and 98 normal control subjects from Sichuan (China). Compared with allele frequencies for Caucasians reported in the literature, the Chinese population investigated showed a reduced frequency of the 9-copy allele and an increased frequency of the 10-copy allele. The observed frequency of genotypes was in agreement with the expected values according to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. No significant difference was found between patients and control subjects with regard to allele frequency, allele prevalence, and genotype counts. The results of the association study presented here are in agreement with the negative results of linkage analyses in schizophrenia pedigrees from Iceland (Kristbjarnarson et al., submitted) and from Utah (Byerley et al., 1993). Taken together, these studies suggest that variation in the dopamine transporter gene (DAT1) is unlikely to be a factor in the etiology of schizophrenia. The observed differences in allele frequencies between Chinese and Caucasian groups suggest that the human transporter gene might be useful for the construction of evolutionary trees in humans and primates as illustrated by Cavalli-Sforza's work (Mountain et al., 1992).

Direct effects of cutaneous neuropeptides on adenylyl cyclase activity and proliferation in a keratinocyte cell line: stimulation of cyclic AMP formation by CGRP and VIP/PHM, and inhibition by NPY through G protein-coupled receptors

Many neuropeptides are present in the peripheral nerves of human skin and are distributed from the intraepidermis to subcutaneous appendages, and those peptides are considered to be involved in the pathogenesis of various inflammatory dermatoses. In this investigation, we determined the effects of various neuropeptides on intracellular cyclic adenosine-5'-monophosphate (AMP) formation in cultured human keratinocytes. Among the many peptides tested, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), peptide histidine-methionine (PHM), and growth hormone releasing factor (GRF) stimulated a rapid and marked formation of intracellular cyclic AMP in keratinocytes in a dose-dependent manner. The direct association of the receptors for CGRP and VIP with adenylyl cyclase in keratinocytes was confirmed by the findings that CGRP and VIP stimulated the enzyme activity in membrane preparations derived from cultured keratinocytes in the presence of guanosine triphosphate (GTP). On the other hand, neuropeptide Y (NPY) showed an inhibitory effect on forskolin-induced cyclic AMP accumulation in keratinocytes. This inhibitory effect of NPY was completely eliminated by glucocorticoid pretreatment of cultured keratinocytes. Furthermore, the presence of peptides that substantially increase intracellular cyclic AMP accumulation also stimulated DNA synthesis and proliferation in a human keratinocyte cell line in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that neuropeptides work directly as biologic modulators of keratinocytes through the cyclic AMP cascade.

Changes in brain dopamine receptors in MPTP parkinsonian monkeys following L-dopa treatment

Twenty-two monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were utilized in this study. Ten animals were rendered parkinsonian with serial injections of MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine). Five of these parkinsonian monkeys received L-dopa/carbidopa treatment, and five animals did not. The remaining twelve animals did not receive MPTP. Eight of these animals received no L-dopa treatment, two animals were treated chronically with L-dopa/carbidopa and two animals received L-dopa/carbidopa only on the day of sacrifice. All animals were given weekly scored neurologic examinations throughout the study. Their movement was quantitated in an activity box. All animals were sacrificed by an overdose of sodium pentobarbital. The parkinsonian animals were sacrificed 107-355 days after their last MPTP injection. The brains were removed and frozen. Punch samples were taken from the caudate and putamen for tissue dopamine determination. Selected areas of the basal ganglia were cut into 20 microns sections for quantitative receptor autoradiography. The density of D1 and D2 receptors was evaluated in the basal ganglia of these animals at the level of the anterior commissure. For the D2 assay, total binding was determined using various concentrations of [3H]spiperone in buffer containing 300 nm mianserin. For the D1 assay, total binding was determined using various concentrations of [3H]SCH-23390. Tissue isotope concentration was determined from the autoradiographs. The MPTP parkinsonian monkeys showed a mean striatal dopamine depletion of 93.5% and a mean clinical score of 9.0. The untreated parkinsonian monkeys demonstrated an increase in the number of D2 sites as compared to controls. This increase was greatest in the lateral putamen.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

No association between schizophrenia and homozygosity at the D3 dopamine receptor gene

The D3 dopamine receptor gene is an important candidate gene for schizophrenia, since (because of its almost exclusive expression in the limbic system) it combines the dopamine receptor hypothesis with the limbic system hypothesis of schizophrenia. A BalI restriction fragment length polymorphism of the D3 dopamine receptor gene has been typed in 107 schizophrenic patients and 98 normal controls from Sichuan (China). With regard to alleles or genotypes, no significant differences were obtained between controls from Europe and China, between patients and controls, and between patient subgroups and controls. These results indicate a lack of association between schizophrenia and the D3 dopamine receptor gene in our sample. Our findings are at variance with reports of a significant excess of homozygosity at the D3 dopamine receptor gene in schizophrenic patients from Wales (United Kingdom) and Alsace (France). In conclusion, further studies will be needed with larger samples of patients from Wales and Alsace as well as with samples of different racial groups to prove or disprove the initial positive association between schizophrenia and genotypes of the D3 dopamine receptor gene.

Biphasic displacement of [3H]YM-09151-2 binding in the rat brain by thioridazine, risperidone and clozapine, but not by other antipsychotics

The radioligand [3H]YM-09151-2 ((+/-)-cis-N-(1-benzyl-2- methylpyrrolidin-3-yl)-5-chloro-2-methoxy-4-methylamino benzamide) was used to study the binding of various antipsychotic agents. Saturation experiments showed that [3H]YM-09151-2 labelled a single population of binding sites in both the olfactory tubercle and the striatum (dissociation constants (KD): 36 +/- 3 pM and 26 +/- 2 pM, respectively). The total number of binding sites (Bmax) was greater in the striatum than in the olfactory tubercle (18.1 +/- 1.8 fmol/mg tissue and 5.3 +/- 0.9 fmol/mg tissue respectively). Risperidone and thioridazine displaced [3H]YM-09151-2 in a biphasic manner in both brain regions, and clozapine also produced biphasic displacement curves in the olfactory tubercle but not in the striatum. All other dopamine D2 receptor antagonists tested displaced [3H]YM-09151-2 in a monophasic manner in both brain regions, in agreement with previously published data. Biphasic displacement did not appear to result from interactions with either the dopamine D3, dopamine D4, 5-HT2, 5-HT1C or the 5-HT1A receptor binding sites. It is suggested that thioridazine, risperidone and clozapine might discriminate between different affinity states and/or subtypes of the dopamine D2 receptor which may be different from the recently identified D2short and D2long receptors.

No evidence of linkage between schizophrenia and D3 dopamine receptor gene locus in Icelandic pedigrees

The D3 dopamine receptor gene is an important candidate gene for schizophrenia, since--because of its almost exclusive expression in the limbic system--it combines the dopamine receptor hypothesis with the limbic system hypothesis of schizophrenia. Pairwise linkage analyses were carried out between the D3 dopamine receptor gene locus (DRD3) and schizophrenia (including major depression among its pleiotropic manifestations). On the basis of these analyses, which assumed a penetrance of 0.71 and a dominant mode of inheritance, we were able to exclude the DRD3 locus with a lod score of -2.50 in four Icelandic pedigrees. The area of exclusion (lod score < -2.00) extended 1.2 centimorgans. We conclude that the genetic predisposition to schizophrenia in these pedigrees is not due to a mutation in the DRD3 locus. However, these results cannot exclude the possibility that a defect in other genes regulating the expression of the D3 dopamine receptor gene could be involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia or that linkage analyses in other families or population-based association studies might show a positive result.