Ligand dopamine receptor

Figure 3 The chemical structures of the ligands used in the molecular modeling study of the Di dopamine receptor. The ligands were divided into two groups (active and inactive) based on their pharmacological properties. The hypothesized pharmacophoric elements are shown in bold.

Endocannabinoids are endogenous ligands for the CB1 receptor. The best established are anandamide (N-arachidonoylethanolamine) and 2-AG (2-arachidonoyl-glycerol). Others may also exist. Pathways involved in the formation and inactivation of anandamide and 2-AG are shown in Figure 56-6. Some steps in their formation are Ca2+-dependent. This explains the ability of neuronal depolarization, which increases postsynaptic intracellular Ca2+ levels, to stimulate endocannabinoid formation and release. Some neurotransmitter receptors (e.g. the D2 dopamine receptor) also stimulate endocannabinoid formation, probably by modulating postsynaptic Ca2+ levels or signaling pathways (e.g. PLC) that regulate endocannabinoid formation. 

Fig. 6.4 In vitro effects of mutation on desensitization and internalization of the dopamine receptor. Shown here are effects of mutation on dose-dependent intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) accumulation (A and B) and binding curves (C and D) for artificial ligand (SCH 23390) using three constructs controls (wild type, A and C) and the Thr360Ala mutant (360, B and D). In the desensitization experiments, cells were preincubated with 10 oA/ dopamine (o) or vehicle ( ) for 20min, and increasing concentrations of dopamine (10 to 10 (iM) were added to assess cAMP accumulation. Note that loss of efficacy and potency seen in wild-type cells (A) disappeared with the Thr360Ala mutation (B). Conversely, internalization, assessed by decrease in SCH23390 binding (C) after pretreatment with lOpM dopamine (o, compared to vehicle ), was essentially unchanged by the Thr360Ala mutation (D)...

Detailed studies of the binding of H-labelled haloperidol to neuronal membranes showed that there was a much better correlation between the therapeutic potency of a neuroleptic and its ability to displace this ligand from the nerve membrane. This led to the discovery of two types of dopamine receptor that are both linked to adenylate cyclase but whereas the Di receptor is positively linked to the cyclase, the D2 receptor is negatively linked. It was also shown that the receptor is approximately 15 times more sensitive to the action of dopamine than the D2 receptor conversely, the receptor has a low affinity for the butyrophenone and atypical neuroleptics such as clozapine, whereas the D2 receptor appears to have a high affinity for most therapeutically active neuroleptics. 

The receptors for these hormones are typical seven-transmembrane-domain serpentine peptides (see Chapter 2 Drug Receptors Pharmacodynamics). Each hormone acts as a ligand within a receptor pocket, inducing conformational activating changes in the receptor. The conformational changes in the receptor s intracellular third loop and carboxyl terminal tail activate an adjacent intracellular G protein. The Gm protein is associated with the receptors for GnRH and TRH, G with the dopamine receptor, and Gs protein with the receptors for the other hormones listed above. 

If presynaptic histamine receptors are more uniform than presynaptic dopamine receptors, the contrary holds true for presynaptic serotonin receptors they are even more diverse than presynaptic dopamine receptors. As mentioned in the Introduction, presynaptic 5-HT3 receptors, being ligand-gated ion channels, are covered in the chapter by Dorostkar and Boehm and will be mentioned here only occasionally. Presynaptic G protein-coupled 5-HT receptors inhibit the release of serotonin from serotonergic axon terminals and inhibit or enhance the release of other neurotransmitters (Table 4). 

Radiolabelled cis-flupenthixol can be used as a ligand specific for the dopamine receptor linked to adenylyl cyclase in the rat striatum (64). Its affinity for the dopamine receptor in the anterior pituitary has not been measured. (Previously (65) the two categories of dopamine receptors were designated as a-dopaminergic" and P-dopaminergic. This has led to confusion with the a and p adrenoreceptors. The new designations should prevent further confusion.)... 

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