Three classes of dopamine receptor (D-2, D-3, D-4) identified by binding studies with ³H-apomorphine and ³H-domperidone

Summary

Dopamine receptors subtypes were studied in homogenates from rat brain areas, mainly the corpus striatum, using the two highly selective ligands ³H-apomorphine and ³H-domperidone. The clearly biphasic inhibition of the specific binding of these two ligands by some agents allowed us to define four distinct classes of binding site. ³H-apomorphine labels two classes of site displaying a large difference in affinity for domperidone, i.e. class I sites well recognized (IC₅₀=5 nM) and class II sites poorly recognized (IC₅₀=10 μM). ³H-domperidone also labels two distinet classes of site displaying a large difference in affinity for apomorphine and dopamine, i.e. class III sites well recognized by these agents (IC₅₀=5 and 35 nM, respectively) and class IV sites poorly recognized (IC₅₀=790 nM and 14 μM, respectively). The two classes I and III represent a single pharmacological class of dopaminergic receptors (labelled by either ³H-apomorphine or ³H-domperidone) as indicated by 1) their almost identical pharmacological specificities (high correlation between K _d or K _i values for a variety of dopaminergic agonists and antagonists); 2) their similar capacity in striatum as well as in other brain regions; 3) the identical decrease in capacity following kainate lesions; 4) their similar sensitivity to GTP and thermal denaturation. Because the pharmacological specificity of these sites excludes the possibility that they represent the recognition sites of the dopamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase, i.e. D-1 receptors, we propose to term them D-2 receptors. Class II and IV sites also differ from D-1 receptors as shown by drug specificity and the effect of kainate. We propose to term class II sites D-3 receptors and class IV sites D-4 receptors.

D-2 receptors are characterised by a high affinity for both dopamine receptor agonists and antagonists (K _i and K _d values in the nM range). They are localised post-synaptically to dopaminergic terminals in the striatum as indicated by 1) their decreased number (−60%) following kainate lesions of intrinsic neurones, and 2) their increased number (+40%) after 6-OHDA-induced degeneration of dopaminergic neurones. The capacity of D-2 receptors is decreased by 80% in the presence of 25 μM GTP. The binding of ligands to D-2 receptors preicubated at 45°C decreases with a half-life of 10 min. D-2 receptors may mediate behavioral actions of apomorphine in low dosage which are easily antagonised by neuroleptics.

D-3 receptors appear to be, at least in part, autoreceptors: their number decreases in striatum after 6-OHDA lesions (−30%) and is not modified following kainate lesions. They are characterised by a high affinity (K _i in the nM range) for dopaminergic agonists (except for bromocriptine) contrasting with a rather low affinity for antagonists. The pharmacologically homogeneous class of D-3 receptor appears heterogeneous regarding both localisation and regulation by GTP.

D-4 receptors are partly localised on intrastriatal neurones (−17% after kainate lesions, +17% following 6-OHDA lesions). However, the small change after kainate-induced lesions suggests that a significant fraction of D-4 receptors is localised on terminals from extrinsic neurones. D-4 receptors are characterised by a high affinity for dopamine receptor antagonists (K _i in the nM range) contrasting with a relatively low affinity for agonists. The number of D-4 receptors increases after either GTP or heat denaturation, a change which probably corresponds to the decrease in D-2 receptors. D-4 receptors may mediate typical behavioral actions of apomorphine in moderate dosage.