Dd. Schwartz et al., Molecular and pharmacological characterization of the canine brainstem alpha-2A adrenergic receptor, J VET PHARM, 22(6), 1999, pp. 380-386
Citations number
34
Categorie Soggetti
Veterinary Medicine/Animal Health
Journal title
JOURNAL OF VETERINARY PHARMACOLOGY AND THERAPEUTICS
This study characterizes the alpha(2)-adrenergic receptors present in canin
e brainstem. Radioligand binding and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain
reaction (RT-PCR) experiments were performed in canine brainstem to identi
fy the receptors present and determine the pharmacological properties of th
ese receptors. The pK(i) values derived from radioligand competition curves
for a number of adrenergic receptor agents at the four alpha(2)-adrenergic
receptor subtypes were compared to the canine brainstem. The pK(i) values
at the canine brainstem alpha(2)-adrenergic receptor were consistent with t
he presence of the alpha(2A)-Aadrenergic receptor. To determine whether the
canine brainstem expressed the message for the alpha(2A)-adrenergic recept
or, RT-PCR was performed with specific primers for the four subtypes of alp
ha(2)-adrenergic receptors, In the canine brainstem, only the primers corre
sponding to a region in the human alpha(2A)-adenergic receptor produced a P
CR product, No bands were detected in the canine brainstem lanes with the a
lpha(2B)-, alpha(2C)-, or alpha(2D)-receptor primers. These data suggest th
at the canine brainstem contains the alpha(2A)-adrenergic receptor.