Protein / target
D(3) dopamine receptor
Protein at a glance
Biological role
Dopamine neurotransmitter receptor activity, coupled via Gi/Go
Strongest disease association
Schizophrenia
Therapeutic position
Established drug target
Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.
Protein profile
Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.
Function overview
Dopamine receptor that is primarily expressed in limbic areas of the brain and is involved in the modulation of cognitive, emotional, and endocrine functions.
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Dopamine receptor that is primarily expressed in limbic areas of the brain and is involved in the modulation of cognitive, emotional, and endocrine functions (PubMed:39984436). Plays a key role in regulating neuronal signaling pathways associated with motivation, reward, and behavior (PubMed:39984436). Coupled to G(i)/G(o) proteins; activation leads to inhibition of adenylate cyclase and decreased intracellular cAMP levels (PubMed:10578130). Involved in the control of locomotor activity and implicated in several neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and substance use disorders (PubMed:39984436). Promotes cell proliferation through MAP kinase signaling (PubMed:19520868). Also involved in autophagy regulation: receptor activation stimulates AMPK, which phosphorylates RPTOR and enhances its interaction with MTOR, thereby inhibiting MTORC1 signaling and its downstream target RPS6KB1. This leads to activation of ULK1 and initiation of the autophagy cascade (PubMed:31538542). Forms heterotetramers with DRD1 to potentiate beta-arrestin recruitment and mediate locomotor activity (By similarity)
Subcellular location
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (38)Hide
Gene Ontology
- Cplasma membrane
- Csynapse
- Fdopamine neurotransmitter receptor activity, coupled via Gi/Go
- FG protein-coupled receptor activity
- Pacid secretion
- Padenylate cyclase-activating dopamine receptor signaling pathway
- Padenylate cyclase-inhibiting dopamine receptor signaling pathway
- Parachidonate secretion
- Pbehavioral response to cocaine
- Pcircadian regulation of gene expression
- Pdopamine metabolic process
- PG protein-coupled receptor internalization
Biological roles
What this protein does, drawn together from its UniProt function, Gene Ontology terms and Reactome pathways.
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Excitatory neurotransmission
- ·negative regulation of synaptic transmission, glutamatergic
Motor control
- ·Dopamine receptor that is primarily expressed in limbic areas of the brain and is involv…
- ·locomotory behavior
G protein-coupled signalling
- ·G protein-coupled receptor activity
- ·G protein-coupled receptor internalization
- ·G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway
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Concepts derived from UniProt GO Reactome — each badge above shows which sources supported that role.
Interaction neighbourhood
Proteins with the strongest functional or physical association. Node size and line weight reflect STRING confidence; hover or select a partner to inspect one association.
Functional and physical associations from STRING v12.0. Only associations with this protein are drawn — partner-to-partner links are not part of this evidence.
Approved medicines with mapped indications
Approved therapies targeting this protein, grouped by what they are approved to treat — the disease-first view of the medicines below. Relationships come from the canonical approved-indication graph (ChEMBL phase-4), the same source as the drug cards.
36 medicines meet Open Targets' target-level approved-medicine definition; the 4 shown here are those on this page with a canonical approved disease indication in the graph. Approved indications from ChEMBL (phase-4), via the canonical drug→disease graph.
Drugs targeting this protein
How approved and investigational drugs engage this protein — mechanism and action type, direct vs complex targeting, and how broadly each acts across other targets. A drug-first view (the section above groups the approved ones disease-first); direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.
Dopamine D3 receptor agonist
Indicated for Parkinson's Disease
D2-like dopamine receptor antagonist
Indicated for Bipolar Disorder, Mental Disorders, Psychomotor Agitation, Psychotic Disorders
D2-like dopamine receptor inverse agonist
Indicated for Conduct Disorder, Psychotic Disorders, Schizophrenia, Tourette's Syndrome
D2-like dopamine receptor antagonist
Indicated for Bipolar Disorder, Mental Disorders, Psychomotor Agitation, Psychotic Disorders
ChEMBL mechanism, action type, target identity and approved indications. Open Targets clinical status.
Translational evidence
Why this target matters therapeutically, strongest evidence first. Disease associations are gene-level (via the gene that encodes this protein) and open into the full confidence synthesis; the development universe, tractability and safety annotations are target-level, from Open Targets.
Strongest disease associations · via encoding gene DRD3
Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene DRD3that encodes this protein — not a direct protein–disease relationship. Ranked by Forefront's causal-directness weighting, so genetically- and clinically-evidenced diseases lead over ones that merely share the literature.
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The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the per-type scores above show the calculation.
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Drug development
45 compounds recorded · 36 approved · 8 in clinical development · 1 earlier-stage
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Open Targets known-drugs universe. Drug name and highest clinical stage only — the disease relationship is NOT read from this slice (it carries trial-context noise); approved indications come from the canonical graph above.
Tractability
Small molecules — Strong
Antibodies — Emerging
Protein degraders — Emerging
Other modalities — Strong
View underlying tractability evidence (10)Hide
Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.
Safety-related annotations
Terms indexed against this target in Open Targets' safety data, with their datasource. These are annotations, not causal claims: the direction of effect (whether activation or inhibition is implicated), species and evidence strength are not captured here, so an entry does not mean that modulating this target is known to cause that condition.
Clinical trials
Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein. Ranked by active status, then clinical phase and recency, and spread across the targeting drugs.
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ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.
What's happening now
Recent therapeutic activity around this target — regulatory actions, clinical trials and safety signals for 3 drugs that target this protein, plus publications where such a drug is a genuine subject. Every item is reached indirectly through the drug, not the protein itself; incidental mentions (a paper that merely measures a drug) and press items are excluded.
- Label change
Label change: OLANZAPINE (ANDA076133)
- Label change
Label change: OLANZAPINE (ANDA076255)
- Label change
Label change: LEVODOPA (NDA209184)
- Label change
Label change: CARBIDOPA AND LEVODOPA (ANDA216505)
- Regulatory approval
Approval: HALOPERIDOL (ANDA214470)
- Label change
Label change: LEVODOPA (NDA209184)
- Label change
Label change: OLANZAPINE (ANDA076133)
- New publicationThe role of L-DOPA in neurological and neurodegenerative complications: a review.
- New publicationThe Gut Microbiota in Parkinson Disease: Interactions with Drugs and Potential for Therapeutic Applications.
- New publicationHippocampal synaptic failure is an early event in experimental parkinsonism with subtle cognitive deficit.
- Safety communication
Drug Safety Update: Haloperidol (Haldol): reminder of risks when used in elderly patients for the acute treatment of delirium
- New publicationEffectiveness of antipsychotic drugs in patients with chronic schizophrenia.
Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.
Related family literature
Papers about “Receptors, Dopamine” — a broader family this protein belongs to. Shown as context; not counted as papers specifically about this protein.
via Receptors, Dopamine
via Receptors, Dopamine
Europe PMC literature, reached through curated HGNC family membership. Membership is a taxonomic relationship — it does not imply this protein participates in every mechanism these papers discuss.