Okadaic acid inhibits alkaline phosphatase activity in MC3T3-E1 cells.

Alkaline phosphatase activity is regulated by various hormones and growth factors at least in part through the phosphorylation of target proteins during the bone cell differentiation. To investigate the role of protein phosphorylation in alkaline phosphatase activity in MC3T3-E1 osteoblast, we used okadaic acid which is a potent specific inhibitor of serine/threonine protein phosphatases to type 1 and 2A. Alkaline phosphatase activity in cellular layer was measured by spectrophotometer using p-nitrophenyl phosphate as substrate and data were expressed as p-nitrophenyl of nmol/min/mg of protein.

Localization of dopamine D3 receptors to mesolimbic and D2 receptors to mesostriatal regions of human forebrain.

We characterized the binding of [125I]epidepride to dopamine D2-like and D3-like receptors in tissue sections of human striatum. The competition for binding of [125I]epidepride by domperidone, quinpirole, and 7-hydroxy-N,N-di(1-propyl)-2-aminotetralin (7-OH-DPAT) was best fit by assuming one site in the caudate but two sites in nucleus accumbens. Guanosine 5'-[beta, gamma-imido]triphosphate showed a large modulatory influence in agonist inhibition of [125I]epidepride binding in caudate but not in nucleus accumbens.

Loss of dopamine D2 receptors varies along the rostrocaudal axis of the hippocampal complex in Alzheimer's disease.

The anatomy of the hippocampus, including the organization of its intrinsic neural circuits and afferents, is organized along a rostrocaudal axis. Dopamine D2 receptors are expressed in specific regions of the hippocampal complex (hippocampal subfields, entorhinal cortex, perirhinal cortex) and show differential expression along this axis. The dentate gyrus and CA3/CA4 subfields show higher numbers of D2 receptors in the rostral than in the caudal levels.

Dopamine D2 receptors in the hippocampus and amygdala in Alzheimer's disease.

Receptor autoradiography was used to quantify the number of dopamine D2 receptors labeled with [125I]epidepride in the medial temporal lobe of seven cases of Alzheimer's disease in comparison to eight cases of neurologically intact controls. The Alzheimer's disease cases showed the greatest losses of D2 receptors in the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala and molecular layer of the dentate gyrus and the smallest differences from controls in the perirhinal region and subiculum. The loss of D2 receptors in the hippocampus and amygdala of cases with Alzheimer's disease in concert with alterations in dopaminergic innervation could contribute to the clinical symptoms of this disorder.

Visualization of dopamine D3-like receptors in human brain with [125I]epidepride.

In sections of human brain containing the striatum (caudate, nucleus, putamen, nucleus accumbens) the competition for binding of [125I]epidepride by compounds with differing selectivity for dopamine D2 and D3 receptors was examined. Domperidone showed higher affinity for D2-like than D3-like sites whereas 7-OH-DPAT (7-hydroxy-2-(N,N-di-n-propylamino)tetralin) and quinpirole demonstrated the reverse selectivity. The pattern of [125I]epidepride binding in the presence of a high concentration of domperidone was negligible in the dorsal striatum but indicated islands of dense binding to D3-like receptors in the nucleus accumbens and ventral putamen.