Locomotor behavior of dopamine D1 receptor transgenic/D2 receptor deficient hybrid mice

Mice that incorporate the dopamine D1 receptor transgene controlled by the D1 receptor promoter exhibit a marked increase of D1 binding in several extra-striatal brain regions and show a paradoxical hypokinetic response to D1 agonist [Exp. Neurol. 157 (1999) 169]. The agonist-induced locomotor behavior of D1 receptor transgenic mice is similar to baseline locomotor activity manifested by D2 receptor deficient mice [J. Neurosci. 18 (1998) 3470]. The similarity between these two behavioral phenotypes raised the possibility that stimulation of the over-expressed D1 receptors in the transgenic mice could cause a suppression of D2 receptor responses that manifest in hypokinesia. Alternatively, the similar phenotypes could result from altered D1/D2 receptor balance in both animal models. Two different approaches were undertaken to test these alternative hypotheses. (1) The effects of pharmacological blockade of D2 receptors on D1 agonist-stimulated hypokinesia of the D1 over-expressing animals were investigated. (2) The behavioral phenotype of hybrid D1 receptor over-expressing/D2 receptor deficient mice generated by crossbreeding the D2 knockout mice and the D1 transgenic animals was studied. The results of these studies suggested that the hypomotor response of the D1 transgenic mice was not a result of an interaction of the over-expressed D1 receptors with the native D2 receptors and that over-expressed D1 receptors likely mediate hypokinesia in the D1 transgenic animals. Considering the significance of the D1 dopamine receptor as a therapeutic target for Parkinson's disease, this D1 receptor over-expressing model provides an important experimental system to probe the basis for altered behavioral responses following stimulation of transgenetically up-regulated receptors.