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Investigation of Cooperativity in the Binding of Ligands to the D₂ Dopamine Receptor

School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, United Kingdom

The D₂ dopamine receptor exists as dimers or as higher-order oligomers, as determined from data from physical experiments. In this study, we sought evidence that this oligomerization leads to cooperativity by examining the binding of three radioligands ([³H]nemonapride, [³H]raclopride, and [³H]spiperone) to D₂ dopamine receptors expressed in membranes of Sf9 cells. In saturation binding experiments, the three radioligands exhibited different B_max values, and the B_max values could be altered by the addition of sodium ions to assays. Despite labeling different numbers of sites, the different ligands were able to achieve full inhibition in competition experiments. Some ligand pairs also exhibited complex inhibition curves in these experiments. In radioligand dissociation experiments, the rate of dissociation of [³H]nemonapride or [³H]spiperone depended on the sodium ion concentration but was independent of the competing ligand. Although some of the data in this study are consistent with the behavior of a cooperative oligomeric receptor, not all of the data are in agreement with this model. It may, therefore, be necessary to consider more complex models for the behavior of this receptor.

Address correspondence to: Dr. Philip G. Strange, School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, RG6 6AJ, UK. E-mail: p.g.strange{at}reading.ac.uk