The cDNA for the dopamine D 3 receptor was isolated and characterized in 1990. Subsequent studies have indicated that D 3 receptors, as well as D 3 receptor mRNA, are primarily localized in limbic regions in mammals. This finding led to the postulate that D 3 receptors may be involved in drug dependence and addiction. However, this hypothesis has been difficult to test due to the lack of compounds with high selectivity for central D 3 receptors. The interpretation of results from studies using mixed D 2 /D 3 agonists and/or antagonists is problematic because these agents have low selectivity for D 3 over D 2 receptors and it is likely that their actions are primarily related to D 2 receptor antagonism and possibly interaction with other neurotransmitter receptors. Currently, with the synthesis and characterization of new highly selective D 3 receptor antagonists such as SB-277011-A this difficulty has been surmounted. The purpose of the present article is to review, for the first time, the effects of various putative D 3 receptor selective compounds in animal models of drug dependence and addiction. The results obtained with highly selective D 3 receptor antagonists such as SB-277011-A, SB-414796, and NGB-2904 indicate that central D 3 receptors may play an important role in drug-induced reward, drug-taking, and cue-, drug-, and stressinduced reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior. Provided these results can be extrapolated to human drug addicts, they suggest that selective DA D 3 receptor antagonists may prove effective as potential pharmacotherapeutic agents to manage drug dependence and addiction.

␣6* nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are highly and selectively expressed by mesostriatal dopamine (DA) neurons. These neurons are thought to mediate several behavioral effects of nicotine, including locomotion, habit learning, and reinforcement. Yet the functional role of ␣6* nAChRs in midbrain DA neurons is mostly unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the composition and in vivo functional role of ␣6* nAChR in mesolimbic DA neurons of male rats. Immunoprecipitation and immunopurification techniques coupled with cell-specific lesions showed that the composition of ␣6* nAChR in the mesostriatal system is heterogeneous, with (non-␣4)␣6␤2* being predominant in the mesolimbic pathway and ␣4␣6␤2* in the nigrostriatal pathway. We verified whether ␣6* receptors mediate the systemic effects of nicotine on the mesolimbic DA pathway by perfusing the selective antagonists ␣-conotoxin MII (CntxMII) (␣3/␣6␤2* selective) or ␣-conotoxin PIA (CntxPIA) (␣6␤2* selective) into ventral tegmental area (VTA). The intra-VTA perfusion of CntxMII or CntxPIA markedly decreased systemic nicotine-elicited DA release in the nucleus accumbens and habituated locomotion; the intra-VTA perfusion of CntxMII also decreased the rate of nicotine infusion in the maintenance phase of nicotine, but not of food, self-administration. Overall, the results of these experiments show that the ␣6␤2* nAChRs expressed in the VTA are necessary for the effects of systemic nicotine on DA neuron activity and DA-dependent behaviors such as locomotion and reinforcement, and suggest that ␣6␤2*-selective compounds capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier may affect the addictive properties of nicotine and therefore be useful in the treatment of tobacco dependence.

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Dual metabotropic glutamate 2/3 (mGlu2/3) receptor agonists have been examined with success in the clinic with positive proof of efficacy in several tests of anxiety and schizophrenia. Moreover, a large body of evidence has accumulated that these drugs have significant neuroprotective potential. An important discussion in the field deals with dissecting effects on mGlu2 versus effects on mGlu3 receptors, which is relevant for the potential use of subtype-selective agonists or allosteric activators. We addressed this issue using mGlu2 and mGlu3 receptor knock-out mice. We used mixed cultures of cortical cells in which astrocytes and neurons were plated at different times and could therefore originate from different mice. Cultures were challenged with NMDA for the induction of excitotoxic neuronal death. The mGlu2/3 receptor agonist, (Ϫ)-2-oxa-4-aminocyclo[3.1.0]hexane-4,6-dicarboxylic acid (LY379268), was equally neuroprotective in cultures containing neurons from wild-type, mGlu2 ؊/؊ , or mGlu3 ؊/؊ mice. Neuroprotection was instead abolished when astrocytes lacked mGlu3 receptors, unless neuronal mGlu2 receptors were also absent. The latter condition partially restored the protective activity of LY379268. Cultures in which neurons originated from mGlu2 ؊/؊ mice were also intrinsically resistant to NMDA toxicity. In in vivo experiments, systemic administration of LY379268 protected striatal neurons against NMDA toxicity in wild-type and mGlu2 Ϫ/Ϫ mice but not in mGlu3 ؊/؊ mice. In addition, LY379268 was protective against nigrostriatal degeneration induced by low doses of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine only in mice lacking mGlu2 receptors. We conclude that neuroprotection by mGlu2/3 receptor agonists requires the activation of astrocytic mGlu3 receptors, whereas, unexpectedly, activation of mGlu2 receptors might be harmful to neurons exposed to toxic insults.

The discovery of new highly potent and selective dopamine (DA) D(3) receptor antagonists has recently allowed the characterization of the DA D(3) receptor in a range of preclinical animal models of drug addiction. A novel series of 1,2,4-triazol-3-yl-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexanes, members of which showed a high affinity and selectivity for the DA D(3) receptor and excellent pharmacokinetic profiles, is reported here. Members of a group of derivatives from this series showed good oral bioavailability and brain penetration and very high in vitro affinity and selectivity for the DA D(3) receptor, as well as high in vitro potency for antagonism at this receptor. Several members of this series also significantly attenuate the expression of conditioned place preference (CPP) to nicotine and cocaine.