1. Unaltered D1, D2, D4, and D5 dopamine receptor mRNA expression and distribution in the spinal cord of the D3 receptor knockout mouse
- Author
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Shawn Hochman, Hong Zhu, Stefan Clemens, and Michael Sawchuk
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Physiology ,Biology ,Article ,Receptors, Dopamine ,Mice ,Behavioral Neuroscience ,Estrogen-related receptor alpha ,Dopamine receptor D1 ,Dopamine receptor D3 ,Internal medicine ,Dopamine receptor D2 ,medicine ,Animals ,Receptors, Dopamine D5 ,RNA, Messenger ,Receptor ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,Mice, Knockout ,Analysis of Variance ,Sigma-1 receptor ,Receptors, Dopamine D2 ,Receptors, Dopamine D1 ,Receptors, Dopamine D4 ,Receptors, Dopamine D3 ,Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ,Mice, Inbred C57BL ,Endocrinology ,Animals, Newborn ,Spinal Cord ,Dopamine receptor ,Knockout mouse ,Animal Science and Zoology - Abstract
Dopamine (DA) acts through five receptor subtypes (D1-D5). We compared expression levels and distribution patterns of all DA mRNA receptors in the spinal cord of wild-type (WT) and loss of function D3 receptor knockout (D3KO) animals. D3 mRNA expression was increased in D3KO, but no D3 receptor protein was associated with cell membranes, supporting the previously reported lack of function. In contrast, mRNA expression levels and distribution patterns of D1, D2, D4, and D5 receptors were similar between WT and D3KO animals. We conclude that D3KO spinal neurons do not compensate for the loss of function of the D3 receptor with changes in the other DA receptor subtypes. This supports use of D3KO animals as a model to provide insight into D3 receptor dysfunction in the spinal cord.
- Published
- 2008