Characterization of the Phosphoinositide-Linked Dopamine Receptor in a Mouse Hippocampal-Neuroblastoma Hybrid Cell Line

Abstract: Previous studies have established that dopamine (DA) can stimulate phosphoinositide (PI) metabolism in the CNS and in the periphery. The present study summarizes our attempt to find a cell line that expresses this dopaminergic system. We describe that the stable clonal HN33.11 cell line, established by fusion of mouse hippocampal cells with neuroblastoma cells (N18TG2) that originate from A/J mouse, natively expresses the D₁ DA receptor system that couples to PI hydrolysis. In this cell line, 500 µM DA or SKF38393 produced 43 and 75% increases in inositol phosphate (IP) accumulations, respectively. In contrast, noradrenaline or 5-hydroxytryptamine did not affect IP accumulations. The formation of IP that was stimulated by DA or SKF38393 was selectively blocked by the D₁ DA receptor antagonist SCH23390 with IC₅₀ values of 13 and 16 µM. This response was not mediated by the D_1A DA receptor and was cyclic AMP-independent, as HN33.11 cells did not express this receptor, and DA or SKF38393 was unable to stimulate the formation of cyclic AMP. In Ca²⁺-free/100 µM EGTA medium, basal IP level was reduced by 31.5%, but SKF38393-stimulated PI hydrolysis was not affected. SKF38393-stimulated IP accumulation was also not affected by pertussis toxin (PTX) treatment (200 ng/ml), suggesting that this dopaminergic response is mediated by PTX-insensitive G proteins. Co-immunoprecipitation studies indicated that in membranes of HN33.11 cells, D₁-like binding sites are coupled to Gα_q protein. Blockade of SKF38393-induced PI hydrolysis with antiserum against phospholipase C (PLC) isozymes, performed in permeabilized cells, as well as co-immunoprecipitation studies implicate PLCβ3 and PLCβ4 in this dopaminergically mediated PI hydrolysis cascade. The results indicate that HN33.11 cells express a D₁-like DA receptor that couples to PLCβ3/4 via Gα_q protein. These cells may therefore be a useful model system for investigating this receptor system.