Pharmacological effects of amantadine on dopaminergic transmission are proposed to result from an uncompetitive antagonism at glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. However, our previous studies examining amantadine-mediated dopamine receptor regulation in the rat striatum revealed a discrepancy from a direct interference with glutamate transmission. Preliminary in vitro binding data from the literature suggested the interaction of amantadine with the sigma1 receptor. Therefore, we have now further characterized the pharmacological properties of amantadine and memantine at this receptor and investigated its involvement in the modulation of striatal dopaminergic transmission. Our binding studies using [3H]-(+)SKF-10,047 indicated that amantadine and memantine behave as ligands of the sigma(1) receptor in rat forebrain homogenates (Ki values of 7.44 +/- 0.82 and 2.60 +/- 0.62 microm, respectively). In NG108-15 neuroblastoma cells, both drugs (amantadine (100 microm) and memantine (10 microm)) potentiated the bradykinin-induced mobilization of intracellular Ca2+, mimicking the effect of the sigma1 receptor agonist PRE-084 (1 microm). Finally, we previously showed that in striatal membranes from amantadine-treated rats, the functional coupling of dopamine receptors with G-proteins was enhanced. Similarly, PRE-084 dose-dependently increased the [35S]GTPgammaS binding induced by dopamine (Emax 28 and 26% of basal, 0.3 and 1 mg/kg PRE-084, respectively). By contrast, BD1047, which is without effect on its own, antagonized the effects of amantadine and PRE-084. Together, these data demonstrate that aminoadamantanes behave as sigma1 receptor agonists, and confirm an involvement of this receptor in modulating dopamine receptors exerted by therapeutically relevant concentrations of amantadine.