A unilateral injection of 6-OHDA (6 microgram/1.5 microliter) was made into the fields of Forel in order to estimate the effects of the destruction of ascending dopaminergic (DA) pathways on the denervation supersensitivity of DA D1 receptors in the rat striatum. DA-sensitive adenylate cyclase activity was markedly enhanced in the anteromedian part of the striatum 3 weeks after the lesion (+68%) and remained elevated for several weeks thereafter (+36%). A different response occurred in the laterodorsal striatum, where the increase in DA-sensitive adenylate cyclase activity was less pronounced after 3 weeks (+40%) and no longer present after 7 weeks. Estimations of catecholamine levels indicated that the lesion made destroyed not only nigrostriatal DA neurons but other ascending catecholaminergic fibers projecting into the cerebral cortex as well. In addition, retrograde transport experiments made with wheat germ agglutinin coupled to horseradish peroxidase indicated that the anteromedian part of the striatum, but not the laterodorsal one, receives both an ipsi- and contralateral cortical projection originating in the prefrontocortical DA field. When the destruction by 6-OHDA of this contralateral DA innervation was combined to the unilateral lesion of the fields of Forel, the increase in DA-sensitive adenylate cyclase activity in each striatal area 3 or 7 weeks postlesion was prevented. This effect was due to DA denervation of the prefrontal cortex since striatal D1 denervation supersensitivity was still observed when contralateral ascending noradrenergic fibers were selectively destroyed by a 6-OHDA lesion made laterally to the pedunculus cerebellaris superior. These results suggest that, by controlling the activity of corticostriatal neurons, the mesocorticoprefrontal DA neurons exert a permissive role on the development of D1-receptor denervation supersensitivity in specific areas of the striatum.