Reverse glial glutamate uptake triggers neuronal cell death through extrasynaptic NMDA receptor activation

Evidence have accumulated that reverse glutamate uptake plays a key role in the pathophysiology of cerebral ischemia. Here, we investigated the effects of glial glutamate transporter dysfunction on neuronal survival using the substrate inhibitor of glutamate transporters, L-trans-pyrrolidine,2-4,dicarboxylate (PDC), that partly mimics reverse glutamate uptake. On mice primary cortical co-cultures of neurons and astrocytes, PDC treatment triggered an elevation of extracellular glutamate concentration, induced neuronal calcium influx and a massive NMDA receptor (NMDAR) mediated-neuronal death without having any direct agonist activity on NMDARs. We investigated the NMDAR subpopulation activated by PDC-induced glutamate release. PDC application led to the activation of both subtypes of NMDARs but the presence of astrocytes was required to activate NMDARs located extra-synaptically. Extrasynaptic NMDAR activation was also confirmed by the loss of neuronal mitochondrial membrane potential and the inhibition of pro-survival p-ERK signalling pathway. These data suggest that reverse glial glutamate uptake may trigger neuronal death through preferential activation of extrasynaptic NMDAR-related pathways.

Neuronal viability is controlled by a functional relation between synaptic and extrasynaptic NMDA receptors

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are critical for synaptic plasticity that underlies learning and memory. But, they have also been described as a common source of neuronal damage during stroke and neurodegenerative diseases. Several studies have suggested that cellular location of NMDARs (synaptic or extrasynaptic) is a key parameter controlling their effect on neuronal viability. The aim of the study was to understand the relation between these two pools of receptors and to determine their implication in both beneficial and/or deleterious events related to NMDAR activation. We demonstrated that selective extrasynaptic NMDAR activation, as well as NMDA bath application, does not activate extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathways, but induces mitochondrial membrane potential breakdown and triggers cell body and dendrite damages, whereas synaptic NMDAR activation is innocuous and induces a sustained ERK activation. The functional dichotomy between these two NMDAR pools is tightly controlled by glutamate uptake systems. Finally, we demonstrated that the only clinically approved NMDAR antagonist, memantine, preferentially antagonizes extrasynaptic NMDARs. Together, these results suggest that extrasynaptic NMDAR activation contributes to excitotoxicity and that a selective targeting of the extrasynaptic NMDARs represents a promising therapeutic strategy for brain injuries.