Dopamine receptor 3 (D3) knockout mice show regular emotional behaviour.
The "Dopamine Deficiency Hypothesis" and a considerable number of recent pharmacological studies propose to thoroughly verify and improve the standard of knowledge regarding a possible role of dopamine in the pathogenesis and treatment of depression. To elucidate the potential role of D3 receptors in the development of a depressive-like phenotype, we subjected D3 receptor knockout mice to a series of selected behavioural paradigms particularly focussing on depressive-like traits. In our experimental design we exposed animals with a deficiency of the D3 receptor (D3-/-) to a standardised behavioural test battery, in which general changes of locomotion, exploration, anxiety and depressive-like characteristics (i.e. Learned Helplessness, Sucrose Consumption and Forced Swim test) can be detected. Thorough behavioural phenotyping, however, neither revealed behavioural consequences on the basal level (locomotion, exploration) nor depressive- or anxiety-like alterations. Hence, these results do not indicate an evident involvement of the D3 receptor in the development of a depression-like syndrome in mice for now. This does, however, not exclude the D3 receptor as a potential target for pharmacotherapy.
Chourbaji
S
S
Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim (ZI), University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany. sabine.chourbaji@zi-mannheim.de
Brandwein
C
C
Vogt
M A
MA
Dormann
C
C
Mueller
R
R
Drescher
K U
KU
Gross
G
G
Gass
P
P
D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D003863:Depression / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005518:Food Preferences; D006380:Helplessness, Learned; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D050637:Receptors, Dopamine D3 / Q000235:genetics*; D013550:Swimming / Q000523:psychology
D050637:Receptors, Dopamine D3