Emerging evidence indicates that the dopamine D3 receptor (D3R) mediates protective roles both in neuronal and non-neuronal cell lines. In a previous study we proposed that neurofibromin, a large tumor suppressor protein encoded by the neurofibromatosis type 1 gene (NF1), may increase susceptibility to apoptosis after serum deprivation in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST) cells, thus acting as a proapoptotic gene. In addition, it has been observed that D3Rs are functionally correlated to neurofibromin. In this study, we examined whether 7-OH-PIPAT, a potent dopamine D3R agonist, exerts an antiapoptotic role under the same culture conditions and then correlated this effect to changes in NF1 expression. Results showed that serum deprivation caused a significant reduction of cell viability (MTT assay) both after 24 and 48 h (p<0.001). Treatment with increasing concentrations of 7-OH-PIPAT (10−9-10−5 M) induced a progressive increase in cell viability both after 24 and 48 h as compared to vehicle-treated cells, with significant changes at the highest concentrations tested (10−6 and 10−5 M). Consistently, at the latter two concentrations, a significant reduction in oligonucleosomes formation was observed, thus suggesting an antiapoptotic role of 7-OH-PIPAT. These results were confirmed by Hoechst 33254 nuclear staining. To investigate whether these effects were correlated to changes in NF1 transcript and protein expression, quantitative real-time PCR, Western blot and immunofluorescence analyses were performed. Results demonstrated that the upregulation of NF1 transcripts and protein levels induced by serum withdrawal were remarkably attenuated by 10−6 and 10−5 M agonist treatment within 24 h (p<0.01 and p<0.001, respectively), whereas similar effects were observed already at a lower concentration (10−7 M) after 48 h treatment (p<0.001). In conclusion, these results suggest that D3R might mediate the protective response to serum deprivation in MPNST cells through the inhibition of NF1 gene expression, further underlying a subtle role of these receptors in MPNST development.

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