Autoradiographic visualisation of [3H]5-carboxamidotryptamine binding sites in the guinea pig and rat brain.

We have investigated the distribution of [3H]5-carboxamidotryptamine ([3H]5-CT) binding sites by in vitro autoradiography on sections of guinea-pig and rat brain. In saturation studies, the ligand recognised a saturable, homogeneous population of binding sites with an affinity ranging from 0.19-0.45 nM depending on the region. The labelling pattern was heterogeneous, and the displacement pattern with different competing drugs selective for different 5-HT receptor subtypes was complex. [3H]5-CT appeared to label 5-HT1B/5-HT1D sites in the substantia nigra, globus pallidus and caudate/putamen, as the binding in these regions was displaced by the 5-HT1B/1D receptor selective agents sumatriptan, CP-122,288 and GR-127,935. In the hippocampus and lateral septum, the very dense [3H]5-CT binding was displaced with high affinity by the 5-HT1A receptor selective agonist 8-hydroxy-dipropylaminotetralin ((+/-)-8-OH-DPAT), dihydroergotamine and 5-HT. In contrast the affinity of the 5-HT1 receptor antagonists spiperone and methiothepine was much lower than their previously published potency at 5-HT1A receptors. The affinity of agonists, taken together with the fact that the distribution of these [3H]5-CT sites overlaps that of [3H]8-OH-DPAT binding sites in serial sections, suggest that these sites correspond to 5-HT1A receptors. Their atypical properties deserve further investigations. While [3H]5-CT binding at 5-HT1B/1D sites and these atypical 5-HT1A sites was inhibited by the GTP analogue 5'-beta, gamma-imidotriphosphate, [3H]5-CT binding in the superficial cortical layers and in midline thalamic nuclei was insensitive to this agent. It was however displaced by low concentrations of spiperone, clozapine and methiothepine, but not by sumatriptan, CP-122,288, GR-127,935 or dihydroergotamine. This binding profile is similar to that of 5-HT7 receptors, while the spatial distribution of these sites matches the known distribution of 5-HT7 messenger RNA. We did not find evidence of [3H]5-CT labelling to 5-HT5 receptors, in spite of their reported high affinity for this ligand. It is concluded that [3H]5-CT, in the presence of selective blockers, can be used to investigate the properties of 5-HT1A, 5-HT1B/1D and 5-HT7 receptors in the rodent brain, although further studies are required to explain the atypical features of [3H]5-CT binding in 5-HT1A receptors containing regions.