Dopamine D2 receptor ribozyme inhibits quinpirole-induced stereotypy in rats

Abstract The injection of a dopamine D 2 receptor hammerhead ribozyme (20 μg) once daily for 5 days into the nucleus accumbens of rats resulted in an inhibition of stereotyped sniffing and locomotor activation produced by the selective dopamine D 2 receptor agonist, quinpirole (0.4 mg kg −1 s.c.). The results suggest that ribozymes may be useful in the study of in vivo gene function in the brain.