Blonanserin ameliorates phencyclidine-induced visual-recognition memory deficits: The complex mechanism of blonanserin action involving D₃-5-HT_2A and D 1-NMDA receptors in the mPFC

Blonanserin differs from currently used serotonin 5-HT 2A/dopamine-D 2 receptor antagonists in that it exhibits higher affinity for dopamine-D 2/3 receptors than for serotonin 5-HT 2A receptors. We investigated the involvement of dopamine-D 3 receptors in the effects of blonanserin on cognitive impairment in an animal model of schizophrenia. We also sought to elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying this involvement. Blonanserin, as well as olanzapine, significantly ameliorated phencyclidine (PCP)-induced impairment of visual-recognition memory, as demonstrated by the novel-object recognition test (NORT) and increased extracellular dopamine levels in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). With blonanserin, both of these effects were antagonized by DOI (a serotonin 5-HT 2A receptor agonist) and 7-OH-DPAT (a dopamine-D 3 receptor agonist), whereas the effects of olanzapine were antagonized by DOI but not by 7-OH-DPAT. The ameliorating effect was also antagonized by SCH23390 (a dopamine-D 1 receptor antagonist) and H-89 (a protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor). Blonanserin significantly remediated the decrease in phosphorylation levels of PKA at Thr 197 and of NR1 (an essential subunit of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors) at Ser 897 by PKA in the mPFC after a NORT training session in the PCP-administered mice. There were no differences in the levels of NR1 phosphorylated at Ser 896 by PKC in any group. These results suggest that the ameliorating effect of blonanserin on PCP-induced cognitive impairment is associated with indirect functional stimulation of the dopamine-D 1-PKA-NMDA receptor pathway following augmentation of dopaminergic neurotransmission due to inhibition of both dopamine-D 3 and serotonin 5-HT 2A receptors in the mPFC.