Altered dopamine receptor and dopamine transporter binding and tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA expression following perinatal NMDA receptor blockade.

This study examined how perinatal phencyclidine (PCP) treatment would affect dopamine D2 receptor and dopamine transporter (DAT) binding at different stages after treatment cessation. Female rat pups received injections of PCP (10 mg/kg, s.c.) or saline on postnatal day (PN)7, 9 and 11. D2 receptor and transporter binding was examined at four time-points (PN12, 18, 32 and 96) following injections. PCP treatment altered D2 receptor binding throughout development, with a final end-point of 22-33% decreased binding at adulthood in the nucleus accumbens and caudate putamen (P < 0.01), accompanied by a small but significant increase in DAT binding in the caudate putamen. Tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA expression was also significantly increased by 25% (P < 0.05) in the ventral tegmental area of adult rats, suggesting that this model may produce a long-term increase in dopamine output. This study demonstrates that early insult to the brain from NMDA receptor hypofunction alters the dopaminergic system at different stages of development.

Effect of chronic treatment with clozapine and haloperidol on 5-HT(2A and 2C) receptor mRNA expression in the rat brain.

This study examined regional changes of 5-HT(2A and 2C) receptor mRNA expression in the rat brain after chronic administration of clozapine (1.5 mg/kg/day) and haloperidol (2.0 mg/kg/day) for 36 days. 5-HT(2A and 2C) receptor mRNA expression and distributions were detected by in situ hybridization after rats were sacrificed either 2 or 48 h after the last drug administration to examine both immediate and delayed effects following drug withdrawal. Following 2 h of drug withdrawal, it showed that clozapine administration significantly decreased 5-HT(2A) receptor mRNA, predominantly in the nucleus accumbens (65%), hippocampus (80%), lasteral septal nucleus (61%) and striatum (68%) compared to controls, whilst rebound increases were observed in most of these regions 48 h later. In contrast, no change in 5-HT(2A) receptor mRNA expression was found in the haloperidol treated groups either 2 h or 48 h after drug withdrawal. Clozapine also decreased 5-HT(2C) receptor mRNA expression in the posteromedial cortical amygdala (32%) and substantia nigra (35%) 2 h after the last drug administration, while rebound effects were also observed 48 h later. 5-HT(2C) receptor mRNA was only decreased in the substantia nigra at both 2 h (42%) and 48 h (54%) after the last haloperidol administration. Alterations in serotonin receptor expression in limbic system region such as the nucleus accumbens, hippocampus and lateral septal nucleus as well as the striatum may represent the specific regional targets that mediate the clinical effects of antipsychotics via the serotonin system.

Decreased plasma peptide YY accompanied by elevated peptide YY and Y2 receptor binding densities in the medulla oblongata of diet-induced obese mice.

It is well known that the peripheral peptide YY (PYY)-central neuropeptide Y (NPY) Y2 receptor axis plays an important role in promoting negative energy balance regulation. Both the hypothalamus and medulla oblongata express a high level of Y2 receptors; however, the functional role of this receptor in chronic high-fat diet-induced obesity has not been fully examined. Using quantitative autoradiography, this study measured binding densities of total [(125)I]PYY and Y2 receptors in the hypothalamus and medulla of chronic high-fat diet-induced obese (DIO), obese-resistant, and low-fat-fed mice. Plasma PYY was also measured using RIA after 22 wk of dietary intervention. The results revealed that body weight gain was significantly higher in the obese mice, compared with the lean mice. Furthermore, PYY and NPY Y2 receptor binding densities in the medulla of the obese mice were significantly higher, compared with the lean mice, whereas the level of plasma PYY was significantly lower in the DIO mice than the low-fat-fed mice. In conclusion, this study showed that the DIO mice had low plasma PYY, which may have caused a compensatory up-regulation of PYY and Y2 receptor densities in the medulla. A low-level response of PYY-medullary regulation to positive energy balance may have contributed to the development of high-fat diet-induced obesity in DIO mice; conversely, a normal response of this regulatory axis in the obese-resistant mice may have contributed to the maintenance of body weight while on a high-fat diet.

Structural requirements for the interaction of sheep insulin-like factor 3 with relaxin receptors in rat atria.

Relaxin is a peptide with various reproductive and nonreproductive functions. The site for the peptide-receptor interaction contains two arginines (Arg) and an isoleucine (Ile) or valine (Val) residue in the B-chain with a configuration of -Arg-X-X-X-Arg-X-X-Ile/Val-X-. The sheep insulin-like peptide 3 (INSL3), a structural homologue of relaxin, also contains the n, n+4 arginines in the B-chain but they are displaced towards the carboxyl terminus by four residues (-X-X-X-X-Arg-X-X-Val-Arg-). Human INSL3 increases the activity of human relaxin in mouse bioassays. Here, we investigated whether sheep synthetic INSL3 affects the relaxin activity in rat atria. INSL3 lacked relaxin-like agonist activity but blocked the activity of relaxin and competed for relaxin binding sites at high concentrations. We also synthesized analogues of INSL3, with amino acid substitutions in the arginine-binding region. Analogues A, D and E, which have the arginines in positions identical to relaxin, showed weak relaxin-like agonist activity. These results suggest that other sites in the relaxin molecule are involved in high-affinity peptide-receptor interaction for the production of the relaxin biological responses.