Receptor expression in mammalian cells

The methods outlined above for the cloning of dopamine receptor cDNAs and their expression in mammalian cells allow the investigator to study dopamine receptor pharmacology with a precision and detail not previously possible. These strategies can be used to create stable and clonal genetically engineered cell lines that express a given receptor subtype, a specific spliced form of a receptor subtype, or mutant and chimeric receptors. Such transfected cells can be evaluated to determine how receptors bind ligands in a receptor-selective manner, to learn how receptors transduce the energy of the binding of agonists into a functional response, to ascertain the mechanisms by which specificity or selectivity of coupling of receptors to various G proteins and signaling pathways is attained, and to reveal the molecular basis of regulation of receptor sensitivity.