CGP 39653 binding in the chick CNS after NMDA receptor antagonist treatment

Lamina-specific abnormalities of NMDA receptor-associated postsynaptic protein transcripts in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

The hypothesis of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor hypofunction in schizophrenia was initially based on observations that blockade of the NMDA subtype of glutamate receptor by noncompetitive antagonists, such as phencyclidine and ketamine, can lead to clinical symptoms similar to those present in schizophrenia. Recently, glutamate has also been implicated in the pathophysiology of the mood disorders. As impaired NMDA receptor activity may be the result of a primary defect in the NMDA receptors themselves, or secondary to dysfunction in the protein complexes that mediate their signaling, we measured expression of both NMDA subunits and associated postsynaptic density (PSD) proteins (PSD95, neurofilament-light (NF-L), and SAP102) transcripts in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in subjects with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, and a comparison group using tissue from the Stanley Foundation Neuropathology Consortium. We found decreased NR1 expression in all three illnesses, decreased NR2A in schizophrenia and major depression, and decreased NR2C in schizophrenia. We found no changes of NR2B or NR2D. Receptor autoradiography revealed no alterations in receptor binding in any of the illnesses, indicating no change in total receptor number, but taken with the subunit data suggests abnormal receptor stoichiometry. In the same subjects, PSD95 was unchanged in all three illnesses, while reduced NF-L expression was found in schizophrenia, especially in large cells of layer V. SAP102 expression was reduced in bipolar disorder restricted to small cells of layer II and large cells of layer III in bipolar disorder. These alterations likely reflect altered signaling cascades associated with glutamate-mediated neurotransmission within specific cortical circuits in these psychiatric illnesses.

Abnormal glutamate receptor expression in the medial temporal lobe in schizophrenia and mood disorders

Pharmacological and anatomical evidence suggests that abnormal glutamate neurotransmission may be associated with the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and mood disorders. Medial temporal lobe structural alterations have been implicated in schizophrenia and to a lesser extent in mood disorders. To comprehensively examine the ionotropic glutamate receptors in these illnesses, we used in situ hybridization to determine transcript expression of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate (AMPA), and kainate receptor subunits in the medial temporal lobe of subjects with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (BD), or major depression (MDD). We used receptor autoradiography to assess changes in glutamate receptor binding in the same subjects. Our results indicate that there are region- and disorder-specific abnormalities in the expression of ionotropic glutamate receptor subunits in schizophrenia and mood disorders. We did not find any changes in transcript expression in the hippocampus. In the entorhinal cortex, most changes in glutamate receptor expression were associated with BD, with decreased GluR2, GluR3, and GluR6 mRNA expression. In the perirhinal cortex we detected decreased expression of GluR5 in all three diagnoses, of GluR1, GluR3, NR2B in both BD and MDD, and decreased NR1 and NR2A in BD and MDD, respectively. Receptor binding showed NMDA receptor subsites particularly affected in the hippocampus, where MK801 binding was reduced in schizophrenia and BD, and MDL105,519 and CGP39653 binding were increased in BD and MDD, respectively. In the hippocampus AMPA and kainate binding were not changed. We found no changes in the entorhinal and perirhinal cortices. These data suggest that glutamate receptor expression is altered in the medial temporal lobe in schizophrenia and the mood disorders. We propose that disturbances in glutamate-mediated synaptic transmission in the medial temporal lobe are important factors in the pathophysiology of these severe psychiatric illnesses.

Lamina-specific abnormalities of AMPA receptor trafficking and signaling molecule transcripts in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia

Ampakines, positive AMPA receptor modulators, can improve cognitive function in schizophrenia, and enhancement of AMPA receptor-mediated currents by them potentiates the activity of antipsychotics. In vitro studies have revealed that trafficking of AMPA receptors is mediated by specific interactions of a complex network of proteins that also target and anchor them at the postsynaptic density (PSD). The aim of this study was to determine whether there are abnormalities of the molecules associated with trafficking and localization of AMPA receptors at the PSD in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in schizophrenia. We analyzed AMPA receptor expression in DLPFC in schizophrenia, major depression, bipolar disorder, and a control group, by examining transcript levels of all four AMPA receptor subunits by in situ hybridization. We found decreased GluR2 subunit expression in all three illnesses, decreased GluR3 in major depression, and decreased GluR4 in schizophrenia. However, autoradiography experiments showed no changes in AMPA receptor binding; thus, we hypothesized that these changes in receptor subunit stoichiometry do not alter binding to the assembled receptor, but rather intracellular processing. In situ hybridization for AMPA-trafficking molecules showed decreased expression of PICK1 and increased expression of stargazin in DLPFC in schizophrenia, both restricted to large cells of cortical layer III. These data suggest that AMPA-mediated glutamatergic neurotransmission is compromised in schizophrenia, particularly at the level of AMPA-related PSD proteins that mediate AMPA receptor trafficking, synaptic surface expression, and intracellular signaling.

Ionotropic glutamate receptor modulation preferentially affects NMDA receptor expression in rat hippocampus

Electrophysiological data suggest that alterations in the function of one glutamate receptor subtype may affect the function of other subtypes. Further, previous studies have demonstrated that NMDA receptor antagonists affect NMDA and kainate receptor expression in rat hippocampus. In order to address the mutual regulation of NMDA, AMPA, and kainate receptor expression in rat hippocampus, we conducted two experiments examining the effects of NMDA and non-NMDA glutamate receptor modulators on NMDA, AMPA, and kainate receptor expression using in situ hybridization and receptor autoradiography. NMDA receptor expression was preferentially affected by systemic treatments, as all drugs significantly altered [(3)H]MK-801 binding, and several drugs increased [(3)H]ifenprodil binding. GYKI52466 and aniracetam treatments resulted in changes in both [(3)H]ifenprodil binding and NR2B mRNA levels, consistent with the association of this subunit and binding site in vitro. There were more modest effects on AMPA and kainate receptor expression, even by direct antagonists. Together, these data suggest that ionotropic glutamate receptors interact at the level of expression. These data also suggest that drug regimens targeting one ionotropic glutamate receptor subtype may indirectly affect other subtypes, potentially producing unwanted side effects.

Nucleus-specific expression of ionotropic glutamate receptor subunit mRNAs and binding sites in primate thalamus

Thalamic afferents and efferents utilize glutamate as their primary neurotransmitter. There are four families of glutamate receptors that can transduce this activity, as well as regulate glutamate release from thalamic relay neurons. The three ionotropic subtypes are of particular importance, because subunit composition confers variability in functional properties of each subtype. We have quantified the expression of NMDA, AMPA and kainate receptors in the thalamus of the macaque using receptor autoradiography and in situ hybridization. NMDA receptors are multimeric associations of NR1 and NR2A-NR2D subunits that form ligand-gated ion channels. Particular subunits are associated with modulatory binding sites that affect receptor activity. NR1 was the most abundant subunit mRNA; NR2A, NR2B, and NR2D subunit mRNAs were also present, but were expressed in nucleus-specific patterns. Very high levels of [3H]ifenprodil binding to the polyamine site of the NMDA complex were detected in a fairly homogeneous distribution. Binding of the ion channel ligand [3H]MK-801 was also abundant, and limbic nuclei expressed higher levels than motor nuclei or the reticular nucleus. [3H]CGP39653 binding to the glutamate site of the NMDA receptor was the least abundant of the NMDA receptor binding sites. There was variability in the stoichiometric relationships of binding sites across nuclei, suggesting that there is heterogeneity in the pharmacological properties of NMDA receptors expressed in the thalamus. AMPA and kainate are also multimeric associations of specific subunits that form ligand-gated ion channels. These subunits are encoded by specific genes: gluR1-gluR4 for AMPA receptors, and gluR5-gluR7 and KA1-KA2 for kainate receptors. GluR4 and gluR6 mRNAs were, respectively the most abundant of the AMPA and kainate receptor subunit transcripts. Both AMPA and kainate receptor subunit transcripts were expressed in a nucleus-specific pattern. The binding of [3H]kainate was higher than that of [3H]AMPA throughout the thalamus, but AMPA subunit mRNA levels were three to five orders of magnitude higher than those encoding the kainate receptor subunits. The mismatch between the levels of expression of kainate receptor subunit transcripts and binding sites is suggestive of a presynaptic localization of kainate receptors on thalamic afferents. These results suggest that ionotropic glutamate receptors are heterogeneously expressed in the thalamus of the primate, and that their differential expression is both subunit- and nucleus-specific.

Treatment with the competitive NMDA antagonist GPI 3000 does not improve outcome after cardiac arrest in dogs

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

We previously showed that treatment with a competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist GPI-3000 (GPI) improved short-term physiological recovery after incomplete global cerebral ischemia complicated by dense acidosis. We tested the hypothesis that GPI administered after resuscitation from cardiac arrest would improve a more long-term recovery as measured by neurobehavioral assessment and neuropathology 4 days after resuscitation.

METHODS

Anesthetized dogs were subjected to 7 minutes of cardiac arrest followed by vest cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Neurobehavioral outcomes were scored daily on a score ranging from 0 (normal) to 500 (worst). On the fourth day, the animals were killed, and neuropathology was evaluated in a blinded manner in the hippocampus and the neocortex by hematoxylin and eosin staining and by determination of percentage of injured neurons. Three groups of animals were treated in a randomized, blinded protocol with either saline (SAL), low-dose GPI (5 mg/kg followed by 1 mg/kg per hour for 2 hours), or high-dose GPI (25 mg/kg, followed by 5 mg/kg per hour for 2 hours).

RESULTS

The mortality rate was higher in animals receiving GPI than in saline-treated control animals (4 of 15 deaths in SAL, 6 of 15 in the low-dose GPI group, and 9 of 18 in the high-dose GPI group). Neurobehavioral scores were depressed in GPI-treated animals compared with saline-treated control animals in a dose-dependent manner, with 96-hour scores of essentially normal (9+/-2) in saline-treated animals compared with those animals with significant impairment (181+/-47) treated with high-dose GPI. Neuropathological damage in the neocortex was most severe in GPI-treated animals, with the percentage of injured neurons dependent on the dose: 8.3%+/-2.7% SAL, 13.2%+/-6.4% low-dose GPI, and 39.4%+/-10.1%, high-dose GPI. CA1 neuronal damage was severe regardless of treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Contrary to results seen in experimental global and focal cerebral ischemia, in which NMDA receptor antagonism may improve responses to injury, receptor antagonism with GPI does not improve brain outcome after cardiac arrest and resuscitation in the dog. Behavioral and histological outcomes both were worsened by GPI treatment at two doses, and mortality was higher relative to saline control treatment. We speculate that systemic drug effects, as well as potential neurotoxicity of the drug under ischemic conditions, may be responsible for the deleterious outcomes observed in our cardiac arrest model.