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Accumulated evidence has suggested that potentiation of cortical GABAergic inhibitory neurotransmission may be a key mechanism in the treatment of schizophrenia. However, the downstream molecular mechanisms related to GABA potentiation remain unexplored. Recent studies have suggested that dopamine D2 receptor antagonists, which are used in the clinical treatment of schizophrenia, modulate protein kinase B (Akt)/glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3 signaling. Here we report that activation of GABAB receptors significantly inhibits Akt/GSK-3 signaling in a β-arrestin-dependent pathway. Agonist stimulation of GABAB receptors enhances the phosphorylation of Akt (Thr-308) and enhances the phosphorylation of GSK-3α (Ser-21)/β (Ser-9) in both HEK-293T cells expressing GABAB receptors and rat hippocampal slices. Furthermore, knocking down the expression of β-arrestin2 using siRNA abolishes the GABAB receptor-mediated modulation of GSK-3 signaling. Our data may help to identify potentially novel targets through which GABAB receptor agents may exert therapeutic effects in the treatment of schizophrenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: All antipsychotics work via dopamine D2 receptors (D2Rs), suggesting a critical role for D2Rs in psychosis; however, there is little evidence for a change in receptor number or pharmacological nature of D2Rs. Recent data suggest that D2Rs form dimers in-vitro and in-vivo, and we hypothesized that schizophrenia, as well as preclinical models of schizophrenia, would demonstrate altered dimerization of D2Rs, even though the overall number of D2Rs was unaltered. Methods: We measured the expression of D2Rs dimers and monomers in patients with schizophrenia using Western blots, and then in striatal tissue from rats exhibiting the amphetamine-induced sensitized state (AISS). We further examined the interaction between D2Rs and the dopamine transporter (DAT) by co-immunoprecipitation, and measured the expression of dopamine D2High receptors with ligand binding assays in rat striatum slices with or without acute amphetamine pre-treatment. Results: We observed significantly enhanced expression of D2Rs dimers (277.7 ± 33.6%) and decreased expression of D2Rs monomers in post-mortem striatal tissue of schizophrenia patients. We found that amphetamine facilitated D2Rs dimerization in both the striatum of AISS rats and in rat striatal neurons. Furthermore, amphetamine-induced D2Rs dimerization may be associated with the D2R-DAT protein-protein interaction as an interfering peptide that disrupts the D2R-DAT coupling, blocked amphetamine-induced up-regulation of D2Rs dimerization. Conclusions: Given the fact that amphetamine induces psychosis and that the AISS rat is a widely accepted animal model of psychosis, our data suggest that D2R dimerization may be important in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and may be a promising new target for novel antipsychotic drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]