Dopamine D2 receptor mRNA measured in serial sections of the rat anterior pituitary

Dopamine D2 receptors (D2-Rs) on lactotrophs in the pituitary gland are targets for dopamine to inhibit prolactin synthesis and release. The aim of our study was to examine if subpopulations of cells in the anterior pituitary that respond differently to dopamine show different pattern of D2-R mRNA expression. Therefore, we have used quantitative in situ hybridization technique to study the localisation of D2-R mRNA in the rat adenohypophysis. Pituitary tissue was obtained from mature and 18 days old rats. Riboprobe was transcribed from rat pituitary cDNA clone encoding D2-R and hybridized in situ with the serial sections of the pituitaries. Our results show that, although the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland contains a variety of cell types distributed in clusters, D2-R mRNA is relatively evenly distributed through the adenohypophysis. Level of expression of D2-R mRNA in the pituitary is slightly higher in mature than in young rats.