Phorbol ester enhances excitatory amino acid-induced dopamine release from mesencephalic cell cultures

Injection of the protein kinase inhibitor H7 into the A10 dopamine region blocks the acute responses to cocaine: behavioral and in vivo microdialysis studies

Cocaine produces a motor-stimulant response in part by its actions within the mesolimbic dopamine system. Repeated exposure to cocaine induces an augmented motor activity response which is termed behavioral sensitization, or reverse tolerance. Previous studies have suggested that sensitization may result from increased dopamine neuronal activity in the A10 region; the origin of the mesolimbic dopamine system. However, the exact mechanisms involved in the development of behavioral sensitization remain to be elucidated. Studies on other forms of sensitization in the nervous system suggest a critical role for increased protein kinase C (PKC) activity in the development of the sensitized response. As a first step in examining the role of PKC in cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization, the effect of intra-A10 administration of a PKC inhibitor, H7, on the acute motor-stimulant response to cocaine was studied. Intra-A10 injections of H7 dose-dependently (1.0-30.0 nmol/side) inhibited cocaine (15.0 mg/kg)-induced motor activity. Pretreatment with H7 (30.0 nmol/side) also blocked the cocaine-induced rise of extracellular dopamine in a terminal region of the mesolimbic dopamine system, the nucleus accumbens, as measured by in vivo microdialysis. These data suggest that activation of protein kinases may be important in cocaine-induced motor activity.

Interleukin-2 modulates evoked release of [3H]dopamine in rat cultured mesencephalic cells

Mesencephalic cell cultures were used as a model to investigate the effects of interleukin-2 (IL-2) on evoked release of [3H]dopamine ([3H]DA) and gamma-[3H]-aminobutyric acid ([3H]GABA). At low concentrations (10(-13)-10(-12) M), IL-2 potentiated [3H]DA release evoked by the excitatory amino acids N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and kainate, whereas higher IL-2 concentrations (10(-9)-10(-8) M) had no effect. IL-2 (10(-14)-10(-8) M) modulated K(+)-evoked [3H]DA release in a biphasic manner, with low concentrations (10(-12)-10(-11) M) of IL-2 potentiating and higher concentrations (10(-9)-10(-8) M) inhibiting K(+)-induced [3H]DA release. IL-2 (10(-14)-10(-8) M) by itself failed to alter spontaneous [3H]DA release. The inhibition by IL-2 of K(+)-evoked [3H]DA release was reversible and not due to neurotoxicity, as preexposure to IL-2 (10(-8) M) had no significant effect on the subsequent ability of dopaminergic cells to take up and to release [3H]DA. Under our experimental conditions, IL-2 (10(-8) M) did not alter Ca(2+)-independent [3H]GABA release evoked by either K+ or NMDA. The results of this study indicate that IL-2 is able to potentiate [3H]DA release evoked by a number of different stimuli, including K+ depolarization and activation of both NMDA and non-NMDA receptor subtypes in mesencephalic cell cultures. IL-2 is active at very low concentrations, a finding that indicates a potent effect of IL-2 on dopaminergic neurons and implicates a physiological role for this cytokine in the modulation of DA release.

Muscarinic potentiation of excitatory amino acid-evoked dopamine release in mesencephalic cells: specificity for the NMDA response and role of intracellular messengers

Of the five cloned muscarinic receptor subtypes, dopamine (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental areas have been shown to be selectively enriched with the mRNA for the m5 subtype, suggesting that muscarinic modulation of DA neurons may have a distinct pharmacology. In the present study we have used dissociated cell cultures of fetal rat ventral mesencephalon to characterize muscarinic modulation of DA neurons. [3H]DA release stimulated by activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors was potentiated by carbachol, a mixed muscarinic-nicotinic agonist, and by oxotremorine-M, a muscarinic agonist. Neither carbachol nor oxotremorine-M had an effect on [3H]DA release evoked by the non-NMDA agonists, kainate or quisqualate. A nicotinic agonist, DMPP, had no effect on NMDA-stimulated release. Potentiation of NMDA-stimulated [3H]DA release by oxotremorine-M was inhibited by the broad spectrum muscarinic antagonist, QNB, and by low concentrations of a putative M1 antagonist, pirenzepine, while much higher concentrations of a purported M2 antagonist, AF-DX 384, were required to reverse the oxotremorine-M effect. The muscarinic antagonist, 4-DAMP, was active in a concentration range between that required for pirenzepine and AF-DX 384. Further experiments examined intracellular messenger mechanisms coupled to the muscarinic receptors modulating NMDA-stimulated [3H]DA release. In contrast to oxotremorine-M, two muscarinic agents with only weak partial agonism with respect to phosphoinositide turnover, pilocarpine and arecoline, had no effect on NMDA-stimulated [3H]DA release.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)