EXISTENCE OF STRIATAL NERVE-CELLS COEXPRESSING CCKB AND D-2 RECEPTOR MESSENGER-RNAS

CO-LOCALIZATION of CCKB and D-2 receptor mRNAs was analysed in adjacen t sections of nucleus caudate putamen of the rat by means of in situ h ybridization. A distinct subpopulation of D-2 mRNA containing striatal nerve cells (in the order of 10%) was shown to co-express CCKB and D- 2 receptor mRNAs. All the CCKB receptor mRNA-positive nerve cells were co-localized with D2 receptor mRNA. These results give one morphologi cal substrate to the previously demonstrated CCKB/D-2 receptor interac tions in the striatum. (C) 1998 Rapid Science Ltd.