Cellular distribution of adenosine A2A receptor mrna in the primate striatum

✍ Scribed by Svenningsson, P.; Le Moine, C.; Aubert, I.; Burbaud, P.; Fredholm, B.B.; Bloch, B.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 767 KB
• Volume: 399
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9967
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9861(19980921)399:2<229::aid-cne6>3.0.co;2-2

✦ Synopsis

The cellular expression of adenosine A 2A receptor mRNA in the adult monkey and human striatum was examined by using single and double in situ hybridization with ribonucleotide probes. Analysis on adjacent sections demonstrated a homogeneous overlapping expression of adenosine A 2A receptor and preproenkephalin A mRNAs throughout nucleus caudatus, putamen, and nucleus accumbens. By contrast, high expression of preproenkephalin A mRNA but no expression of adenosine A 2A receptor mRNA was found in the nucleus basalis of Meynert. Double in situ hybridization demonstrated an extensive colocalization of adenosine A 2A receptor and preproenkephalin A mRNAs in approximately 50% of the medium-sized spiny neurons of the monkey nucleus caudatus, putamen, and nucleus accumbens. A small number of neurons (4-12%) that contained adenosine A 2A receptor mRNA but not preproenkephalin A mRNA was found along the ventral borders of the striatum. Virtually all adenosine A 2A receptor mRNA-containing neurons co-expressed dopamine D 2 receptor mRNA, whereas only very few adenosine A 2A receptor mRNA containing neurons co-expressed dopamine D 1 receptor or substance P mRNAs. In addition, a sub-population of adenosine A 2A receptor mRNA-expressing neurons that also contained preproenkephalin A mRNA was found in the septum in monkeys. These results demonstrate that there is a high expression of adenosine A 2A receptor mRNA in the primate striatum that is extensively co-localized with dopamine D 2 receptor and preproenkephalin A mRNAs. It is concluded that adenosine A 2A receptors are likely to be important for the parallel organization of primate striatal neurotransmission and that these receptors could be a target for drug therapy in Parkinson's disease.