3,4-Methylendioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has both stimulatory and hallucinogenic properties which make its psychoactive effects unique and different from those of typical psychostimulant and hallucinogenic agents. The present study investigated the effects of MDMA on extracellular dopamine (DAex) and serotonin (5-HTex) levels in the striatum and prefrontal cortex (PFC) using in vivo microdialysis techniques in mice lacking DA transporters (DAT) and/or 5-HT transporters (SERT). subcutaneous injection of MDMA (3, 10 mg/kg) significantly increased striatal DAex in wild-type mice, SERT knockout mice, and DAT knockout mice, but not in DAT/SERT double-knockout mice. The MDMA-induced increase in striatal DAex in SERT knockout mice was significantly less than in wildtype mice. In the PFC, MDMA dose-dependently increased DAex levels in wildtype, DAT knockout, SERT knockout and DAT/SERT double-knockout mice to a similar extent. In contrast, MDMA markedly increased 5-HTex in wildtype and DAT knockout mice and slightly increased 5-HTex in SERT-KO and DAT/SERT double-knockout mice. The results confirm that MDMA acts at both DAT and SERT and increases DAex and 5-HTex.
We have developed the coexpression system of both delta-opioid receptor (DOR1) and M2-muscarinic receptor (M2) which mediate agonist-evoked currents due to common post-receptor mechanisms including Gi1 and phospholipase C (PLC) activation in Xenopus oocytes reconstituted with Gi1 alpha. The DOR1-currents by 100 nM D-Ser2-leu-enkephalin-Thr6 (DSLET) were selectively desensitized by 10 nM phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). The PMA-desensitization of DSLET-currents was abolished in the presence of calphostin C, a protein kinase C inhibitor, or reversed by an intracellular injection of calcineurin, a protein phosphatase 2B. When a higher concentration (3 microM) of DSLET was used, DSLET-currents were rapidly desensitized by repeated challenges of DSLET itself. However, repeated challenges of 10 microM ACh caused no influence on such DSLET- or M2-currents. The desensitization of DSLET-currents was selectively reversed by protein kinase C inhibitors. Similar results were also obtained with various delta-opioid agonists. These results suggest that protein kinase C is involved in the homologous desensitization of delta-opioid receptors.
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