TABLE 3
Summary of α3/α6β2* nAChR-mediated [3H]DA release in the medial and lateral caudate of control and MPTP-lesioned animals
A similar level of cotinine-sensitive α3/α6β2* nAChR-mediated [3H]DA release is present in the medial and lateral caudate. This release component represents 100% of the release in the lateral caudate. In contrast, it forms only 50% of total α3/α6β2* nAChR-mediated release in the medial caudate, and the remaining 50% release is cotinine-insensitive. Nigrostriatal damage results in a complete loss of this cotinine-insensitive release in the medial caudate, whereas cotinine-sensitive release remains unchanged in the medial caudate, but it is reduced by ∼50% in the lateral caudate. The level of total α3/α6β2* nAChR-mediated [3H]DA release in the medial caudate was set to ++++, with ++ and + equal to ∼50 and ∼25% of this value, respectively.