title: Parkin expression profile in dopamine d3 receptor knock-out mice brains.
abstract: Patients affected by autosomic recessive juvenile parkinsonism (ARJP) exhibit parkin gene mutations with brain decrease in dopamine D2/D3 binding sites. To date, there are no data indicating whether the reduction in dopamine D3 receptors (DRD3) may be associated with the expression of specific parkin variants. In the present study we investigated parkin expression profile in DRD3 knock-out mice brains. RT-PCR analysis was performed to assess qualitative changes in parkin isoforms' distribution pattern and in exons' expression both in wild type controls and dopamine D3 receptor's knock-out mice. Real-time PCR was performed to quantify single exons mRNA. Results demonstrated that exons 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, were more expressed in wild type compared to dopamine D3 receptor KO mice brains while some other (3, 9, 10) were lower expressed. The expression levels of exons 5, 11 and 12 did not change in both animal groups. Our analysis was confirmed by western blot, which showed that parkin protein levels were influenced by the absence of DRD3.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Diagnostic Pathology, Legal Medicine, Hygiene and Public Health, University of Catania Medical School, Via S. Sofia, 87, 95123, Catania, Italy. vdagata@unict.it
authors.forename: Velia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: D'Agata
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tiralongo
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Castorina
authors.forename: Gian Marco
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Leggio
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Micale
authors.forename: Maria Luisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Carnazza
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Drago
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D017931:DNA Primers; D005091:Exons; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D050637:Receptors, Dopamine D3 / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D050637:Receptors, Dopamine D3; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; C111567:parkin protein