␣ 2 -Adrenoceptors mediate diverse functions of the sympathetic system and are targets for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, depression, pain, glaucoma, and sympathetic activation during opioid withdrawal. To determine whether ␣ 2 -adrenoceptors on adrenergic neurons or ␣ 2 -adrenoceptors on nonadrenergic neurons mediate the physiological and pharmacological responses of ␣ 2 -agonists, we used the dopamine ␤-hydroxylase (Dbh) promoter to drive expression of ␣ 2A -adrenoceptors exclusively in noradrenergic and adrenergic cells of transgenic mice. Dbh-␣ 2A transgenic mice were crossed with double knockout mice lacking both ␣ 2A -and ␣ 2C -receptors to generate lines with selective expression of ␣ 2A -autoreceptors in adrenergic cells. These mice were subjected to a comprehensive phenotype analysis and compared with wild-type mice, which express ␣ 2A -and ␣ 2C -receptors in both adrenergic and nonadrenergic cells, and ␣ 2A /␣ 2C double-knockout mice, which do not express these receptors in any cell type. We were surprised to find that only a few functions previously ascribed to ␣ 2 -adrenoceptors were mediated by receptors on adrenergic neurons, including feedback inhibition of norepinephrine release from sympathetic nerves and spontaneous locomotor activity. Other agonist effects, including analgesia, hypothermia, sedation, and anesthetic-sparing, were mediated by ␣ 2 -receptors in nonadrenergic cells. In dopamine ␤-hydroxylase knockout mice lacking norepinephrine, the ␣ 2 -agonist medetomidine still induced a loss of the righting reflex, confirming that the sedative effect of ␣ 2 -adrenoceptor stimulation is not mediated via autoreceptor-mediated inhibition of norepinephrine release. The present study paves the way for a revision of the current view of the ␣ 2 -adrenergic receptors, and it provides important new considerations for future drug development.Adrenergic receptors are important targets for the treatment of human diseases and conditions including hypertension and heart failure, psychiatric and neurological diseases, asthma, and pain (Westfall and Westfall, 2006). To date, nine different adrenergic receptor subtypes have been cloned and grouped into three receptor groups, including ␣ 1A,B,D , ␣ 2A,B,C , and ␤ 1,2,3 (Bylund et al., 1994). However, the therapeutic potential of these subtypes has not been fully explored because of the lack of ligands with sufficient subtype-selectivity. At present, only four of the nine possible subtype distinctions (i.e., ␣ 1 , ␣ 2 , ␤ 1 , and ␤ 2 ) have achieved clinical relevance (Westfall and Westfall, 2006). Especially within the ␣ 1 -and ␣ 2 -receptor subgroups, the physiological significance of individual receptor subtypes has remained unclear until recently. For the ␣ 2 -adrenoceptors, mouse models with targeted deletions of the individual subtypes have greatly advanced our understanding of the physiological role and the therapeutic potential of these receptors (Gilsbach and Hein, 2008). Activation of ␣ 2A -receptors could be linked with bradycardia ...

Abstract-␣ 2 -adrenoceptors are essential presynaptic regulators of norepinephrine release from sympathetic nerves.Previous studies in mice with targeted deletions in the 3 ␣ 2 -adrenoceptor genes have indicated that these receptors are essential for embryonic development. In the present study, we searched for the ␣ 2 -adrenoceptor subtype(s) involved in placental development and its molecular mechanism using mice carrying targeted deletions in ␣ 2 -adrenoceptor genes. Congenic ␣ 2B -adrenoceptor-deficient mice (Adra2b Ϫ/Ϫ ) developed a defect in fetal and maternal vessel formation in the placenta labyrinth at embryonic day 10.5. This defect was accompanied by reduced endothelial cell proliferation and decreased extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 phosphorylation levels in Adra2b Ϫ/Ϫ as compared with Adra2bplacentae. Microarray analysis of wild-type and mutant placentae (maternal genotype Adra2b ϩ/Ϫ ) revealed 179 genes, which were significantly up-or downregulated Ͼ1.5-fold in ␣ 2B -deficient placentae. The type 1 receptor for vascular endothelial growth factor (Flt1), which is coexpressed with ␣ 2B -adrenoceptors in spongiotrophoblast and giant cells of the placenta, was found to be 2.3-fold upregulated in ␣ 2B -deficient placentae. Neutralization of Flt1 and its soluble splice variant sFlt1 by a specific antibody in vivo prevented the vascular defect in ␣ 2B -deficient placentae at embryonic day 10.5. Thus, ␣ 2B -adrenoceptors are essential to suppress antiangiogenic (s)Flt1 in spongiotrophoblasts to control the coordinated formation of a vascular labyrinth of fetal and maternal blood vessels in the murine placenta during development. (Circ Res. 2007;101:682-691.)