Media composition modulates excitatory amino acid-induced death of rat cerebellar granule cells

Dual neurotoxic and neuroprotective role of metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 in conditions of trophic deprivation - possible role as a dependence receptor

Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors have been often implicated in various models of neuronal toxicity, however, the role played by the individual receptors and their putative mechanisms of action contributing to neurotoxicity or neuroprotection remain unclear. Here, using primary cultures of rat cerebellar granule cells and mouse cortical neurons, we show that conditions of trophic deprivation increased mGlu1 expression which correlated with the developing cell death. The inhibition of mGlu1 expression by specific siRNA attenuated toxicity, while adenovirus-mediated overexpression of mGlu1 resulted in increased cell death, indicating a causal relationship between the level of receptor expression and neuronal survival. In pharmacological experiments selective mGlu1 antagonists failed to protect from mGlu1-induced cell death, instead, neuronal survival was promoted by glutamate acting at mGlu1 receptors. Such properties are characteristics of a novel heterogeneous family of dependence receptors which control neuronal apoptosis. Our findings indicate that increased expression of mGlu1 in neurons creates a state of cellular dependence on the presence of its endogenous agonist glutamate. We propose a new role and a new mechanism for mGlu1 action. This receptor may play a crucial role in determining the fate of individual neurons during the development of the nervous system.

Serum albumin improves recovery from spinal cord injury

A neuroprotective factor is shown to be present in mammalian serum. This factor is identified by Western blotting to be serum albumin. The serum factor and albumin both protected cultured spinal cord neurons against the toxicity of glutamate. The inability of K252a, a blocker of the high affinity tyrosine kinase receptor for members of the nerve growth factor family, to block the neuroprotective effect of the serum factor established that the serum factor is not a member of the nerve growth factor family. Post-injury injection of albumin intravenously or into the site of injury immediately after injury both improved significantly locomotor function according to Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan assessment and spontaneous locomotor activity recorded with a photobeam activity system. Albumin has multiple mechanisms whereby it may be neuroprotective, and it is a potentially useful agent for treating neurotraumas.

Hippocampal neurons in organotypic slice culture are highly resistant to damage by endogenous and exogenous nitric oxide

Nitric oxide (NO) has been proposed to mediate neurodegeneration arising from NMDA receptor activity, but the issue remains controversial. The hypothesis was re-examined using organotypic slice cultures of rat hippocampus, with steps being taken to avoid known artefacts. The NO-cGMP signalling pathway was well preserved in such cultures. Brief exposure to NMDA resulted in a concentration-dependent delayed neuronal death that could be nullified by administration of the NMDA antagonist MK801 (10 microm) given postexposure. Two inhibitors of NO synthesis failed to protect the slices, despite fully blocking NMDA-induced cGMP accumulation. By comparing NMDA-induced cGMP accumulation with that produced by an NO donor, toxic NMDA concentrations were estimated to produce only physiological NO concentrations (2 nm). In studies of the vulnerability of the slices to exogenous NO, it was found that continuous exposure to up to 4.5 microm NO failed to affect ATP levels (measured after 6 h) or cause damage during 24 h, whereas treatment with the respiratory inhibitors myxothiazol or cyanide caused ATP depletion and complete cell death within 24 h. An NO concentration of 10 microm was required for ATP depletion and cell death, presumably through respiratory inhibition. It is concluded that sustained activity of neuronal NO synthase in intact hippocampal tissue can generate only low nanomolar NO concentrations, which are unlikely to be toxic. At the same time, the tissue is remarkably resistant to exogenous NO at up to 1000-fold higher concentrations. Together, the results seriously question the proposed role of NO in NMDA receptor-mediated excitotoxicity.

Kainate-induced excitotoxicity is dependent upon extracellular potassium concentrations that regulate the activity of AMPA/KA type glutamate receptors

In addition to well-known N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated excitotoxicity, recent studies suggest that non-NMDA type ionotropic glutamate receptors are also important mediators of excitotoxic neuronal death, and that their functional expression can be regulated by the cellular environment. In this study, we used cerebellar granule cells (CGCs) in culture to investigate kainate (KA)-induced excitotoxicity. Although previous reports indicated that KA induces apoptosis of CGCs in culture, no KA-induced excitotoxic cell death was observed in CGCs treated with KA when cells were maintained in high potassium media (24 mm K+). In contrast, when mature CGCs were shifted into low potassium media (3 mm K+), KA produced significant excitotoxicity. In electrophysiological studies, the KA-induced inward current density was significantly elevated in CGCs shifted into low K+ media compared with those maintained in high K+ media. Non-desensitizing aspects of KA currents observed in this study suggest that these responses were mediated by AMPA rather than KA receptors. In immunofluorescence studies, the surface expression of GluR1 subunits increased when mature CGCs were shifted into a low K+ environment. This study suggests that KA-induced excitotoxicity in mature CGCs is dependent upon the extracellular potassium concentration, which modulates functional expression and excitability of AMPA/KA receptors.

Development and characterisation of a glutamate-sensitive motor neurone cell line

Modification of the growth conditions of NSC-34 mouse neuroblastoma x motor neurone cells by serum depletion promotes the expression of functional glutamate receptors as the cells mature into a form that bears the phenotypic characterisation of motor neurones. Immunocytochemical studies demonstrated the presence of the glutamate receptor proteins NMDAR1, NMDAR2A/B, GluR1, GluR2, GluR2/3, GluR4, GluR6/7, and KA2. Toxicity assays using cell counting techniques demonstrated a mild but significant cell death (approximately 30%, p < 0.01) following a 24-h exposure to 1 mM glutamate that could be prevented by the presence of the glutamate receptor antagonists (+)-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[a,d]cyclohepten-5,10-imine maleate (10 microM) and 2,3-dioxo-6-nitro-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrobenzo[f]quinoxaline-7-sulphonamide (1 microM). As an indication of glutamate receptor functional activity a novel approach was used to detect the production of free radicals following stimulation with glutamate receptor agonists. The release of superoxide free radicals was detected using a micro-electrochemical sensor following addition of glutamate receptor agonists to the cell bathing solution. Alterations in intracellular calcium concentrations were examined using fura-2 imaging. Exposure of the differentiated NSC-34 cells to glutamate leads to an increase in intracellular calcium concentrations that is prevented by the presence of glutamate receptor antagonists. The motor neurone origin of these cells makes them particularly useful for investigating the potential role of glutamatergic toxicity in motor neurone degeneration.

Growth factors and taurine protect against excitotoxicity by stabilizing calcium homeostasis and energy metabolism

Taurine, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) are known to control the development of early postnatal cerebellar granule cells. This study attempted to investigate possible mechanisms of this control by determining neuronal survival, calcium homeostasis, and related calcium-mediated functions, as well as the site of action during glutamate-induced excitotoxicity in cultures of cerebellar granule cells. We report that stimulation of glutamate receptors induced a rapid increase in intracellular calcium concentrations ([Ca(2+)](i)) and a decrease in mitochondrial energy metabolism. These effects of glutamate were time- and concentration-dependent and could be specifically blocked by glutamate receptor antagonists. Taurine and bFGF but not BDNF differently regulated [Ca(2+)](i), and preserved the mitochondrial energy metabolism in the presence of glutamate. The regulation of [Ca(2+)](i) by bFGF and taurine required pretreatment of cells with these factors. Confocal microscope analysis of [Ca(2+)](i) and (45)Ca(2+) uptake studies showed that bFGF reduced the magnitude of glutamate-induced calcium uptake with no apparent regulation thereafter. Taurine, on the other hand, did not affect the level of calcium uptake induced by glutamate but rather the duration of the maximal response; this maximal response was transient and returned to basal levels approximately 10 min after glutamate receptor stimulation. We conclude from these data that bFGF and taurine prevent glutamate excitotoxicity through regulation of [Ca(2+)](i) and mitochondrial energy metabolism. Furthermore, the neuroprotective role of taurine and bFGF was enhanced by their collaboration.

Ischaemic pre-conditioning in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures is inversely correlated to the induction of the 72 kDa heat shock protein (HSP72)

In vivo, preconditioning with a sublethal insult can confer resistance to normally lethal episodes of cerebral ischaemia. This phenomenon has been linked with the induction of the 72 kDa heat shock protein (HSP72), but this has not been clearly demonstrated in vitro. We have used organotypic hippocampal slice cultures to investigate whether tolerance to lethal ischaemia is dependent on HSP72. Cultures were maintained in vitro for 14 days, and neuronal damage assessed using propidium iodide fluorescence. Prolonged neuronal HSP72 upregulation occurred following exposure to 30 min ischaemia, 45 min hypoxia and 1 microM kainate, but not 1 microM NMDA or 20 min ischaemia, all sublethal insults. Preconditioning with ischaemia, kainate or hypoxia 24 h prior to lethal ischaemia (45 min) was not protective, and when the delay was increased to 48 h, damage in the CA3 pyramidal cell region was significantly increased compared to cultures exposed to 45 min ischaemia alone. Preconditioning with 20 min ischaemia had no effect on the severity of ischaemic damage. Preconditioning with 1 microM NMDA significantly reduced neuronal damage produced by either 45 or 60 min ischaemia when the delay between insults was 48 h. NMDA pre-treatment also prevented neurotoxicity produced by glutamate (5-10 mM) but not NMDA (10-30 microM). These data suggest that in vitro, the increased expression of HSP72 following some sublethal insults should be considered as a marker of cell stress prejudicial to the survival of neurones subsequently exposed to ischaemia, while tolerance can be produced through mechanisms independent of HSP72 induction.

Excitotoxicity plays a role in the death of tyrosine hydroxylase- immunopositive nigral neurons cultured in serum-free medium

We studied the effects of different amino acid receptor antagonists and a calcium (Ca2+) channel blocker on the survival of embryonic tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-immunopositive nigral neurons grown under serum-free culture conditions. Ventral mesencephalic neurons were cultivated for 2 or 7 days. Following serum withdrawal on day 2, some cultures were treated with different concentrations of the noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist dizocilpine hydrogen maleate (MK-801), the competitive NMDA receptor antagonist 2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid, the competitive kainate/quisqualate receptor antagonist 6,7-dinitroquinoxaline-2, 3-dione, and the Ca2+ channel blocker flunarizine. Treatment with MK-801 or flunarizine increased the survival of TH-positive neurons after serum deprivation. These findings suggest a possible role for excitotoxicity in dopaminergic cell death which can be prevented by blocking the NMDA receptor or by inhibiting Ca2+ entry through voltage-gated channels.