......................................................................................................................... ii List of Tables .............................................................................................................. viii List of Figures ................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. List of Abbreviations .........

Dopamine and angiotensin II negatively interact to regulate sodium excretion and blood pressure. D3 dopamine receptors downregulate angiotensin type 1 (AT1) receptors in renal proximal tubule cells from normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats. We determined whether AT1 receptors regulate D3 receptors and whether the regulation is different in cultured renal proximal tubule cells from normotensive and sp...

The dopamine D3 receptor, which is highly enriched in nucleus accumbens (NAc), has been suggested to play an important role in reinforcement and reward. To understand the potential cellular mechanism underlying D3 receptor functions, we examined the effect of D3 receptor activation on GABAA receptor (GABAAR)-mediated current and inhibitory synaptic transmission in medium spiny neurons of NAc. A...

The aim of this study was to examine behavioral and biochemical effects of nafadotride, the new dopamine D3 receptor antagonist, and to compare it with haloperidol (dopamine D2 receptor antagonist) and clozapine (predominate dopamine D4 receptor antagonist). Each drug was injected to adult male Wistar rats intraperitoneally, each at a single dose and for 14 consecutive days. Thirty minutes afte...

This study employed simultaneous neuroimaging with positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to demonstrate the relationship between changes in receptor occupancy measured by PET and changes in brain activity inferred by fMRI. By administering the D2/D3 dopamine receptor antagonist [(11)C]raclopride at varying specific activities to anesthetized nonhuma...

Dopamine (1) is a key neurotransmitter whose impact on pharmacological processes mediated by family of dopamine receptors designated D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5. Various diseases conditions such as schizophrenia, drug abuse, depression, restless leg syndrome, Parkinson’s disease (PD), inflammatory have been linked to aberrant D3 activity. Herein, we report series novel ligands with improved solubili...

The mechanism by which dopamine induces or facilitates neurohypophysial hormone release is not completely understood. Because oxytocin- and vasopressin-secreting supraoptic neurons are under the control of a prominent GABAergic inhibition, we investigated the possibility that dopamine exerts its action by modulating GABA-mediated transmission. Whole cell voltage-clamp recordings of supraoptic n...

Dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra provide one of the major neuromodulatory inputs to the neostriatum. Recent in situ hybridization experiments have suggested that postsynaptic dopamine receptors are segregated in striatonigral and striatopallidal neurons. We have tested this hypothesis in acutely isolated, retrogradely labeled striatonigral neurons by examining the neuromodulatory ef...

Lesions of glutamatergic afferents to the nucleus accumbens have been reported to block psychostimulant-induced behavioral sensitization. However, thalamic glutamatergic projections to the nucleus accumbens have received little attention in the context of psychostimulant actions. We examined the effects of acute amphetamine and cocaine administration on expression of Fos protein in the thalamic...