The subthalamic nucleus (STN) receives a dopaminergic innervation from the substantia nigra pars compacta, but the role of this projection remains poorly understood, particularly in primates. To address this issue, we used immuno-electron microscopy to localize D1, D2, and D5 dopamine receptors in the STN of rhesus macaques and studied the electrophysiological effects of activating D1-like or D...

A series of experiments examined the ability of dopamine D3/D2 receptor agonists [(+)-(4aR,10bR)-3,4,4a,10b-tetrahydro-4-propyl-2H,5H-[1]b enzopyrano-[4,3-b]-1,4-oxazin-9-ol hydrochloride (PD 128,907), (+/-)-7-hydroxy-dipropylaminotetralin hydrobromide (7-OH-DPAT), quinpirole and bromocriptine] to produce a variety of dopaminergically mediated behaviors. The effects of these drugs with selectiv...

In order to clone the D1 dopamine receptor linked to adenylyl cyclase activation, the polymerase chain reaction was used with highly degenerate primers to selectively amplify a cDNA sequence from NS20Y neuroblastoma cell mRNA. This amplification produced a cDNA fragment exhibiting considerable sequence homology to guanine nucleotide-binding (G)-protein-coupled receptors that have been cloned pr...

dopamine (da) is one of the main catecholamines in the brain and is crucial for movement coordination, endocrine function, reward, mood, memory and emotions. the dopaminergic system is the primary therapeutic target in the treatment of parkinson’s disease (pd), drug addiction and schizophrenia. notwithstanding, dysfunction of central dopaminergic neurotransmission has also been associated to de...

It was previously shown that mice with genetic deletion of the neurotrophic factor pleiotrophin (PTN-/-) show enhanced amphetamine neurotoxicity and impair extinction of amphetamine conditioned place preference (CPP), suggesting a modulatory role of PTN in amphetamine neurotoxicity and reward. We have now studied the effects of amphetamine (10mg/kg, 4 times, every 2h) in the striatum of mice wi...

In the retina, dopaminergic amacrine (interplexiform) cells establish multiple synapses on the perikarya of AII amacrines, the neurons that distribute rod signals to on- and off-cone bipolars. We used triple-label immunocytochemistry and confocal microscopy to identify the receptors contained within the postsynaptic active zone of these synapses in both mouse and rat retinas. We found that at t...

It has previously been shown that the reinforcing and dependence-producing properties of nicotine depend to a great extent on activation of nicotinic receptors within the ventral tegmental area (VTA), i.e. the site of origin of the mesolimbocortical dopaminergic projection. Based on the data reviewed in the present study, it is suggested that nicotine by stimulating presynaptic a7 nicotinic rec...