Dopamine D2 receptor-mediated G-protein activation in rat striatum:: functional autoradiography and influence of unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the substantia nigra

Unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesions of substantia nigra pars compacta (SNPC) neurons in rats induce behavioural hypersensitivity to dopaminergic agonists. However, the role of specific dopamine receptors is unclear, and potential alterations in their transduction mechanisms remain to be evaluated. The present study addressed these issues employing the dopaminergic agonist, quinelorane, which efficaciously stimulated G-protein activation (as assessed by [S-35]GTP gammaS binding) at cloned hD(2) (and hD(3)) receptors. At rat striatal membranes, dopamine stimulated [S-35]GTP gammaS binding by 1.9-fold over basal, but its actions were only partially reversed by the selective D-2/D-3 receptor antagonist, raclopride, indicating the involvement of other receptor subtypes. In contrast, quinelorane-induced stimulation (48% of the effect of dopamine) was abolished by raclopride, and by the D-2 receptor antagonist, L741,626. Further, novel antagonists selective for D-3 and D-4 receptors, S33084 and S18126, respectively, blocked the actions of quinelorane at concentrations corresponding to their affinities for D-2 receptors. Quinelorane potently induced contralateral rotation in unilaterally 6-OHDA-lesioned rats, an effect abolished by raclopride and L741,626, but not by D-3 and D-4 receptor-selective doses of S33084 and S18126, respectively. In functional ([S-35]GTP gammaS) autoradiography experiments, quinelorane stimulated G-protein activation in caudate putamen and, to a lesser extent, in nucleus accumbens and cingulate cortex of naive rats. In unilaterally SNPC-lesioned rats, quinelorane-induced G-protein activation in the caudate putamen on the non-lesioned side was similar to that seen in naive animals (similar to 50% stimulation), but significantly greater on the lesioned side (similar to 80%). This increase was both pharmacologically and regionally specific since it was reversed by raclopride, and was not observed in nucleus accumbens or cingulate cortex. In conclusion, the present data indicate that, in rat striatum, the actions of quinelorane are mediated primarily by D-2 receptors, and suggest that behavioural hypersensitivity to this agonist, induced by unilateral SNPC lesions, is associated with an increase in D-2, but not D-3 or D-4, receptor-mediated G-protein activation. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.