Intracellularly-recorded effects of glutamate and aspartate on neurones in the guinea-pig olfactory cortex slice

A late increase in potassium conductance follows synaptic stimulation of granule neurons of the dentate gyrus

In response to orthodromic stimulation, granule neurons of the dentate gyrus of the rat hippocampal slice display a late hyperpolarization (LH) with properties which clearly distinguish it from the conventional gamma-aminobutyric ac id (GABA)-mediated chloride (Cl) dependent inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP). The LH is not reduced by antagonists of GABA-mediated Cl conductances such as picrotoxin, and it is probably dependent on increased potassium conductance rather than in increased Cl conductance. The LH can be elicited by orthodromic stimulation which does not elicit a burst of action potentials and, in fact, the LH has been observed following stimulation which did not produce a depolarization detectable at the resting membrane potential. It is suggested that the increased potassium conductance of the LH may be calcium-dependent, or it may be directly elicited by a neurotransmitter.

Effect of glutamate, aspartate and related derivatives on cerebellar purkinje cell dendrites in the rat: an in vitro study

1. The responses of Purkinje cells to short duration (pulse) ionophoretic applications of L-aspartate (L-asp), L-glutamate (L-glu), N-methyl DL-aspartate (NMDLA) and quisqualic acid in their dendritic fields were studied in vitro on sagittal slices of lobules IX and X of the adult rat cerebellum.2. Pulse application of L-asp or L-glu evoked transient and dose-dependent increases in the firing rate of the simple spikes recorded extracellularly as single units. When the ionophoretic electrode was positioned in the dendritic field of the Purkinje cells, the lowest thresholds for L-glu and L-asp mediated excitations of the cells were as low as 25 and 35 pC respectively, with a latency for maximal responses as brief as 7 ms.3. In intracellular recordings these excitatory responses consisted of depolarizations of up to 18 mV in amplitude and with depolarizing slopes up to 0.52 mV/ms. They were generally unaccompanied by changes in cell input resistance in contrast to the marked decrease which occurred in response to steady applications of large doses of L-asp and L-glu.4. The spatial distribution of the excitatory sites confirmed that the dendritic sensitivity to L-glu was greater than that of the soma and showed that the same was true for L-asp. In 34% of cells the sensitivity for L-asp declined markedly in the upper region of the molecular layer, whereas it remained high for L-glu; no such differential sensitivity was detected in the remaining 66% of cells.5. Inhibitory responses, antagonized by 10(-5) M-bicuculline in the bath, were also induced in Purkinje cells by L-glu and L-asp when the ionophoretic electrode was withdrawn from the excitatory sites by as little as 8 mum and up to 40 mum upward or downward along the track of parallel fibres or positioned as far as 250 mum laterally.6. Whenever it was applied in the molecular layer, the pulse application of NMDLA elicited no excitatory response in Purkinje cells recorded extra or intracellularly. However, slow depolarizations accompanied by a slight increase in cell input resistance were obtained with steady applications of 20-50 nA of the drug for 20-30 s.7. In contrast, pulse application of quisqualic acid appeared to have the same type of fast excitatory effect on Purkinje cells as L-asp and L-glu, but its potency was greater and its action more prolonged. Furthermore, its steady application led to an abrupt and marked decrease in cell membrane resistance.8. The excitatory effects of L-asp, L-glu and quisqualic acid were antagonized by L-glutamic acid diethyl ester more consistently than by D-alpha-aminoadipate, suggesting together with previous observations that L-asp and L-glu act on Purkinje cells via quisqualic acid rather than via NMDLA receptors.

Selective potentiation of retinal horizontal cell responses to L-glutamate by D-aspartate

1. L-Glutamate and L-aspartate depolarize type H1 horizontal cells in the isolated retina of goldfish, but only at millimolar concentrations. 2. When applied in the presence of D-aspartate, L-glutamate depolarizes H1 cells at concentrations nearly 15-fold lower than when it is applied alone. The effects of L-aspartate were not potentiated by either D-aspartate or D-glutamate. 3. Since D-aspartate seems also to enhance the effect of the transmitter released by cone photoreceptors, these results are consistent with the possibility that L-glutamate is a neurotransmitter of cones.

Multiple reversal potentials for responses to L-glutamic acid

Reversal potentials for L-glutamic and kainic acid were determined from foetal mouse neurones, grown dissociated in culture, and originating either from the brain or spinal cord. Amino acids were applied at known concentrations by pressure microperfusion and responses recorded using conventional intracellular techniques. Altering membranes potential by injecting current through the recording electrode permitted direct (not extrapolated) observation of reversal potentials. Values of reversal potentials differed from previous reports in culture but were still well below those predicted solely from an increase in sodium conductance. Furthermore, with some neurones it was possible to demonstrate multiple phases of response, each phase differing in time course and possessing a separate reversal potential. One reversal potential indicated the participation of potassium conductance in the response.

Synaptic excitation may activate a calcium-dependent potassium conductance in hippocampal pyramidal cells

In hippocampal CAl pyramidal cells, orthodromic synaptic excitation is followed by an early hyperpolarization mediated by gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and a late non-GABA-mediated hyperpolarization that has properties consistent with an increase in potassium conductance. Depolarizations produced by iontophoretically applied glutamate are followed by hyperpolarizations that have features in accordance with an increase in potassium conductance. The hyperpolarizations are independent of chloride and resistant to tetradotoxin but are blocked by a low-calcium, high-cobalt medium. Voltage clamping the glutamate depolarization does not reduce the subsequent hyperpolarization, indicating that the hyperpolarization results from a direct increase in calcium conductance produced by glutamate, rather than from activation of voltage-sensitive calcium channels. A single transmitter, possibly acting on one type of receptor and channel, may initiate both excitation and inhibition in the same postsynaptic cell.

Distinct pharmacological properties of excitatory amino acid receptors in the rat striatum: study by Na+ efflux assay

Specific 22Na+ efflux rates from preloaded rat striatal slices are increased in a dose-dependent manner by L-glutamate and other excitatory amino acids displaying the following order of efficiency: N-methyl-D-aspartate greater than DL-homocysteate greater than quisqualate greater than kainate greater than D-glutamate greater than L-glutamate greater than L-aspartate. Amino acid antagonists such as 2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate, gamma-D-glutamylglycine, DL-aminosuberate, DL-aminoadipate, and diethyl glutamate but not nonexcitatory amino acids such as gamma-aminobutyric acid inhibit the amino acid-induced increase in specific 22Na+ efflux rate. Increased K+ concentrations, in the presence of 2 mM Ca2+, increase the specific 22Na+ efflux. The latter and the response to N-methyl-D-aspartate, but not the responses to L-glutamate, L-aspartate, quisqualate, and kainate, are inhibited to similar extents by the same antagonists. These results suggest the release from striatal nerve terminals of a putative neurotransmitter with pharmacological properties different from those of L-glutamate or L-aspartate but similar to those of N-methyl-D-aspartate. The results of this study show that the stimulation of the 22Na+ efflux in brain slices by neuroactive amino acids and K+ ions is a valid and powerful tool for pharmacological investigations of excitatory amino acid receptors and their putative ligands.

Excitatory and inhibitory action of ibotenic acid on frog spinal motoneurones in vitro

Ibotenic acid (IBO), a conformationally-restricted analogue of the putative excitatory transmitter glutamate, produced biphasic effects on frog spinal motoneurones recorded wih DC-coupled Ag/AgCl electrodes placed on the central end of ventral roots. The initial effect consisted of a motoneuronal depolarization with an increase in excitability tested with low-intensity dorsal root stimulation (the depolarizing activity of IBO was about 6 times greater than that of glutamate). On washout, the depolarizing effect of IBO subsided and complete motoneuronal repolarization occurred; however, motoneuronal responses to glutamate and to trans-synaptic stimulation remained depressed for prolonged periods. This depressant effect was not reproduced following prolonged administrations of depolarizing doses of glutamate but it was similar to that produced by muscimol, an agonist on inhibitory GABA receptors. Unlike the muscimol-evoked depression, the IBO-induced depression was insensitive to bicuculline and was antagonized by local anaesthetics or high Mg2+ solutions. It is suggested that a substantial part of the IBO depressant action is likely due to release of long-acting inhibitory transmitters onto motoneurones.