The D2 and D3 receptors vary in certain tissues and species as a result of alternative splicing, and the human D4 receptor gene exhibits extensive polymorphic variation. In the central nervous system, dopamine receptors are widely expressed because they are involved in the control of locomotion, cognition, emotion, and affect as well as neuroendocrine secretion. In the periphery, dopamine receptors are present more prominently in kidney, vasculature, and pituitary, where they affect mainly sodium homeostasis, vascular tone, and hormone secretion. Numerous genetic linkage analysis studies have failed so far to reveal unequivocal evidence for the involvement of one of these receptors in the etiology of various central nervous system disorders. However, targeted deletion of several of these dopamine receptor genes in mice should provide valuable information about their physiological functions.
PHYSIOLOGICAL REVIEWS Vol. 78 No. 1 January 1998, pp. 189-225
Copyright ©1998 The American Physiological Society
Dopamine Receptors: From Structure to Function
CRISTINA MISSALE, S. RUSSEL NASH, SUSAN W. ROBINSON, MOHAMED JABER, AND MARC G. CARON
Departments of Cell Biology and Medicine, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Laboratories, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina