Missale, Cristina, S. Russel Nash, Susan W. Robinson, Mohamed Jaber, and Marc G. Caron. Dopamine Receptors: From Structure to Function. Physiol. Rev. 78: 189–225, 1998. — The diverse physiological actions of dopamine are mediated by at least five distinct G protein-coupled receptor subtypes. Two D1-like receptor subtypes (D1 and D5) couple to the G protein Gs and activate adenylyl cyclase. The other receptor subtypes belong to the D2-like subfamily (D2 , D3 , and D4) and are prototypic of G protein-coupled receptors that inhibit adenylyl cyclase and activate K+ channels. The genes for the D1 and D5 receptors are intronless, but pseudogenes of the D5 exist. The D2 and D3 receptors vary in certain tissues and species as a result of alternative splicing, and the human D4 receptor gene exhibits extensive polymorphic variation. In the central nervous system, dopamine receptors are widely expressed because they are involved in the control of locomotion, cognition, emotion, and affect as well as neuroendocrine s...

Dopamine Receptors: From Structure to Function

G protein-coupled dopamine receptors (D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5) mediate all of the physiological functions of the catecholaminergic neurotransmitter dopamine, ranging from voluntary movement and reward to hormonal regulation and hypertension. Pharmacological agents targeting dopaminergic neurotransmission have been clinically used in the management of several neurological and psychiatric disorders, including Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Huntington's disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD(1)), and Tourette's syndrome. Numerous advances have occurred in understanding the general structural, biochemical, and functional properties of dopamine receptors that have led to the development of multiple pharmacologically active compounds that directly target dopamine receptors, such as antiparkinson drugs and antipsychotics. Recent progress in understanding the complex biology of dopamine receptor-related signal transduction mechanisms has revealed that, in addition to their primary action on cAMP-mediated signaling, dopamine receptors can act through diverse signaling mechanisms that involve alternative G protein coupling or through G protein-independent mechanisms via interactions with ion channels or proteins that are characteristically implicated in receptor desensitization, such as β-arrestins. One of the future directions in managing dopamine-related pathologic conditions may involve a transition from the approaches that directly affect receptor function to a precise targeting of postreceptor intracellular signaling modalities either directly or through ligand-biased signaling pharmacology. In this comprehensive review, we discuss dopamine receptor classification, their basic structural and genetic organization, their distribution and functions in the brain and the periphery, and their regulation and signal transduction mechanisms. In addition, we discuss the abnormalities of dopamine receptor expression, function, and signaling that are documented in human disorders and the current pharmacology and emerging trends in the development of novel therapeutic agents that act at dopamine receptors and/or on related signaling events.

The Physiology, Signaling, and Pharmacology of Dopamine Receptors

The catecholamine dopamine plays a role in the functioning of numerous vertebrate and invertebrate organisms. In mammals, dopamine affects a diverse array of processes, such as motor control, cognition, emotion, neuroendocrine regulation, positive reinforcement, and cardiovascular regulation. Moreover, dopamine responsive systems have been implicated in several pathologic conditions, such as schizophrenia, tardive dyskinesia, Parkinson's disease, Tourette syndrome, hyperprolactinemia, and possibly Huntington's chorea. The quest to find new drugs to combat the symptoms of these conditions has led to the discovery of numerous synthetic agonists and antagoni sts for dopamine receptors. At the cellular and biochemical level, dopamine also exhibits a wide range of effects, including stimulation and inhibition of adenylyl cyclase (Stoof & Kebabian 1984), stimulation of potassium channels (Sasaki & Sato 1 987), alterations of phosphotidyl­ inositol (Mahan et al 1 990) and arachidonic acid metabolism (Kanterman et al 1991; Piomelli et al 1991), changes in .neuronal firing rates (Walters et al 1987), and alterations of gene expression (Gerfen et alI990). Dopamine mediates these diverse effects through interactions with specific receptor proteins, and one of the challenges has been to i dentify these receptors and elucidate their properties. B y characterizing the structure, function,

Recent Advances in the Molecular Biology of Dopamine Receptors

The diverse physiological actions of dopamine are mediated by its interaction with two basic types of G protein-coupled receptor, D1 and D2, which stimulate and inhibit, respectively, the enzyme adenylyl cyclase. Alterations in the number or activity of these receptors may be a contributory factor in diseases such as Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia. Here we describe the isolation and characterization of the gene encoding a human D1 dopamine receptor. The coding region of this gene is intronless, unlike the gene encoding the D2 dopamine receptor. The D1 receptor gene encodes a protein of 446 amino acids having a predicted relative molecular mass of 49,300 and a transmembrane topology similar to that of other G protein-coupled receptors. Transient or stable expression of the cloned gene in host cells established specific ligand binding and functional activity characteristic of a D1 dopamine receptor coupled to stimulation of adenylyl cyclase. Northern blot analysis and in situ hybridization revealed that the messenger RNA for this receptor is most abundant in caudate, nucleus accumbens and olfactory tubercle, with little or no mRNA detectable in substantia nigra, liver, kidney, or heart. Several observations from this work in conjunction with results from other studies are consistent with the idea that other D1 dopamine receptor subtypes may exist.

Molecular cloning and expression of the gene for a human D1 dopamine receptor.

Dopamine receptors: Molecular biology, biochemistry and behavioural aspects

Dopamine-1 (DA-1) receptors have been found in renal tubular membranes which stimulate both adenylate cyclase and phospholipase-C activity. In renal cortical plasma membrane preparations the DA-1 agonist SKF 82526, forskolin and NaF stimulated adenylate cyclase activity. 2',5'-dideoxyadenosine inhibited basal and DA-1 agonist stimulated adenylate cyclase activity. Forskolin, NaF, dibutyryl-cyclic AMP and 2',5'-dideoxyadenosine had no effect on basal or DA-1 agonist stimulated phospholipase-C activity in these membranes. These studies indicate that DA-1 agonist stimulates adenylate cyclase and phospholipase-C activities independently. Phospholipase-C activity was also increased by the nonhydrolyzable GTP analog, guanosine-5'-O-(3-thiophosphate). When DA-1 agonist and guanosine-5'-O-(3-thiophosphate) were added together there was a slight but significant increase in phospholipase-C activity. This increase was inhibited in the presence of guanosine-5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate). DA-1 stimulated phospholipase-C activity was found to be insensitive to both cholera and pertussis toxins. The present studies indicate a cyclic AMP independent transduction pathway for DA-1 receptor mediated through a guanine nucleotide regulatory protein associated phospholipase-C.

J Axelrod

Papers

The dopamine-1 agonist, SKF 82526, stimulates phospholipase-C activity independent of adenylate cyclase.