Cyclic AMP content and regulation of tyrosine-3-mono-oxygenase in rat striatum

The unilateral transection of nigro striatal dopaminergic axons produced a short lasting (15-30 min) increase in the affinity of striatal tyrosine 3-mono-oxygenase (TH), for a synthetic pteridine cofactor (DMPH4). The kinetic changes of striatal TH were paralleled by an increase of striatal cAMP content. Apomorphine (10 mg/kg i.p.) failed to block the activation of TH by cerebral hemisection. Haloperidol (5 mg/kg i.p.) and reserpine (5 mg/kg i.p.) also elicited a sudden and similar change in striatal TH activity but this response occurred without an increase in the cAMP content and lasted for longer than 2 hrs. If the hemisection of nigrostriatal pathway was performed after haloperidol or reserpine injection the activation of TH produced by these two drugs was reversed rapidly (about 30 minutes). Pretreatment with haloperidol or reserpine prevented the increase of striatal cAMP following cerebral hemisection. Moreover, haloperidol injected 30 min after cerebral hemisection failed to change the TH kinetic properties in the striatum ipsilateral to the lesion but it changed striatal TH in the side contralateral to the lesion. These results suggest that the increase in the affinity of striatal TH for the pteridine cofactor elicited by cerebral hemisection is not related to a lack of stimulation of DA autoreceptors. Moreover these experiments provide an evidence that postsynaptic dopamine receptors play a role in the activation of striatal TH elicited by haloperidol.