title: Molecular and pharmacological characterization of the canine brainstem alpha-2A adrenergic receptor.
abstract: This study characterizes the alpha2-adrenergic receptors present in canine brainstem. Radioligand binding and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) experiments were performed in canine brainstem to identify the receptors present and determine the pharmacological properties of these receptors. The pKi values derived from radioligand competition curves for a number of adrenergic receptor agents at the four alpha2-adrenergic receptor subtypes were compared to the canine brainstem. The pKi values at the canine brainstem alpha2-adrenergic receptor were consistent with the presence of the alpha2A-adrenergic receptor. To determine whether the canine brainstem expressed the message for the alpha2A-adrenergic receptor, RT-PCR was performed with specific primers for the four subtypes of alpha2-adrenergic receptors. In the canine brainstem, only the primers corresponding to a region in the human alpha2A-adrenergic receptor produced a PCR product. No bands were detected in the canine brainstem lanes with the alpha2B-, alpha2C-, or alpha2D-receptor primers. These data suggest that the canine brainstem contains the alpha2A-adrenergic receptor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, Auburn University, College of Veterinary Medicine, AL 36849, USA.
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: K P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Hedden
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D058669:Adrenergic alpha-2 Receptor Antagonists; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D017931:DNA Primers; D004285:Dogs / Q000378:metabolism*; D008168:Lung / Q000166:cytology; D011869:Radioligand Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D018341:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-2 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D058669:Adrenergic alpha-2 Receptor Antagonists; D017931:DNA Primers; D018341:Receptors, Adrenergic, alpha-2