Characterization of mouse striatal precursor cell lines expressing functional dopamine receptors.

Dopamine and its receptors appear in the developing brain early in the embryonic period and dopamine receptor activation influences proliferation and differentiation of neuroepithelial precursor cells. Since dopamine D(1) and D(2) receptor activation produces opposing effects on precursor cell activity, dopamine's overall effects may correlate with relative numbers and activity of each receptor subtype on the precursor cells. Dopamine receptor expression and activity in individual precursor cells in the intact brain are difficult to ascertain. Therefore, cell lines with known receptor expression profiles can be useful tools to study dopamine's influence on neuroepithelial cells. We report characterization of dopamine receptor expression and activity profiles in three mouse striatal precursor cell lines and suggest that these cell lines can be valuable tools to study dopamine's effects on striatal precursor cell proliferation and differentiation.