Low affinity binding to glutamate receptor sites correlates with depolarizing responses induced by glutamate and quisqualate in striatal synaptoneurosomes

In the present study, binding affinity of glutamate and quisqualate to striatal synaptoneurosome membranes in the guinea-pig was compared with concentration-dependence of depolarizing responses induced by these agents. The displacement of radioactive glutamate from receptor binding site by unlabelled glutamate and quisqualate revealed a nonhomogeneous population of binding sites. A high affinity component of binding was observed with an inhibition constant of 0.04 microM for glutamate and 0.45 microM for quisqualate, as well as a low affinity component with an inhibition constant of 10 microM for glutamate and 87 microM for quisqualate. Changes of the membrane potential in striatal synaptoneurosomes induced by glutamate and quisqualate were detected by measuring the absorbance of a potential sensitive cyanine dye. Glutamate and quisqualate induced constantly a depolarization in synaptoneurosome particles. Concentration-response curves showed that half-maximal depolarization was obtained with 10 microM glutamate and 100 microM quisqualate. The comparison of the displacement data with the changes in the membrane potential in the present investigation indicate that in vitro glutamate and quisqualate depolarize striatal synaptoneurosome particles through low affinity binding to receptor site for glutamate.     

Developmentally regulated changes of glutamate binding sites in mouse deep cerebellar nuclei

The expression of L-[³H]glutamate binding sites of different ionic and pharmacological sensitivities was studied in mouse deep cerebellar nuclei during early postnatal development by means of in vitro autoradiography. Ca²⁺/Cl⁻-dependent, quisqualate/AMPA/ibotenate-sensitive, and APB-insensitive binding sites are present at high density in the deep cerebellar nuclei of young animals, but greatly decrease between the 10th and 25th postnatal day and remain low in the adult. The density of Ca²⁺/Cl⁻-independent binding sites remains low and constant during the whole of postnatal development. The possible involvement of the Ca²⁺/Cl⁻-dependent binding sites in brain development is discussed.     

Isolation-induced changes in radioligand binding to benzodiazepine binding sites

Binding of [3H]flunitrazepam was studied in brain tissues of isolated Wistar rats and compared to group-reared animals. Modifications were observed in hippocampus and cortex (Kd increased) and in cerebellum (Bmax decreased) and when brain sections of control rats were incubated in the bath fluid that had served to incubate sections from isolated rats, a flattening of the saturation curve was observed. Results are discussed in terms of possible modulators of benzodiazepine binding sites, mainly tissue GABA concentrations.     

Histamine H3 receptor binding sites in rat cortex following L-histidine loading

Inflammation Research -     

Time-dependent changes in extracellular glutamate in the rat dorsolateral striatum following a single cocaine injection

Acute cocaine administration has been shown to alter dorsal striatal plasticity [Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 87 (1990) 6912; Brain Res Bull 30 (1993) 173] and produce long-term neurochemical changes [Pharmacol Biochem Behav 27 (1987) 533]. To date, the effects of acute cocaine on extracellular glutamate and nerve terminal glutamate immunolabeling in the rat dorsolateral striatum have not been reported. To investigate cocaine-induced changes in extracellular glutamate, in vivo microdialysis was carried out in the dorsolateral striatum of rats 1-14 days after receiving a single injection of either vehicle or 15 mg/kg cocaine. There was an increase in the group injected with cocaine 1 day prior to measuring extracellular glutamate as compared with the control group. The group injected with cocaine 3 days prior to the microdialysis session had decreased extracellular glutamate levels. Furthermore, extracellular glutamate remained attenuated 14 days after acute cocaine treatment. Striatal glutamate decreased in the cocaine-treated rats after calcium removal, suggesting that cocaine-induced changes in extracellular glutamate were partially calcium-dependent. The density of nerve terminal glutamate immunolabeling was measured using immunogold electron microscopy in the contralateral striatum of the same rats that had been acutely treated with cocaine or vehicle. There were no changes in the density of glutamate immunolabeling within identified nerve terminals making an asymmetrical (excitatory) synaptic contact 1, 2, 3, or 14 days after acute cocaine exposure as compared with the control groups. Hence, these alterations in extracellular glutamate did not result from changes in glutamate immunolabeling within the synaptic vesicle pool. In addition, no changes in glutamate immunolabeling were found in rats that received cocaine 2 h previously or were withdrawn after 1 week of cocaine administration. The results demonstrate that a single injection of cocaine produces biphasic, time-dependent changes in extracellular glutamate in the rat dorsolateral striatum.     

GABA binding to receptor sites in locust supraoesophageal ganglia

The binding of 4-amino-n-[2,3-3H]butyric acid (GABA) to receptor sites in the supraoesophageal ganglia of the locust Schistocerca gregaria is reported. Binding is saturable with a Kd of 30 nM and a Bmax of 150 fmol/mg protein. Binding is sodium-independent with a pH optimum of 6.8 and the pharmacological properties of the site suggest a receptor rather than an uptake or transport protein. The assay is being utilised in a comparative study of the binding sites of the GABA receptor and the enzyme 4-aminobutyrate: 2-oxoglutarate amino-transferase (EC 2.6.1.19, GABA-T). GABA binds to at least 4 proteins in the nervous system of vertebrates: the GABAA and GABAB receptors, GABA-T the enzyme involved in the GABA shunt, and the GABA transport system. In the invertebrates the status of these GABA-binding proteins is less well established. There are reports of a GABA receptor complex resembling the GABAA receptor; GABA-T activity has been reported and we have recently purified the enzyme from locust ganglia; it is assumed that GABA uptake systems are present in invertebrates. Proteins with different functions which specifically bind the same ligand are interesting from an evolutionary point of view. Are they distinct gene products or is the sub-unit of the receptor which binds GABA an enzyme which has lost the ability to bind pyroxidal phosphate? Do either receptor or enzyme differ significantly from their mammalian counterparts?     

Estrogen binding sites and estrophilin histochemistry and their correlation with oestrogen receptor biochemistry

Since the application of mono- and poly-clonal antibodies to the estrogen receptor protein (estrophilin) classically admitted opinions about the interactions between estrogens and their target cells have changed. Biochemical assays of ER have been shown to provide false negative results; the key-mechanism seems to be located at the nuclear level, while until now most emphasis was put on cytosolic ER. In histochemistry, apparently contradictory reports have emphasized either cytoplasmic or nuclear labelling of estrogen binding sites (EBS). A lot of supputations have tried to explain in vitro translocations from the cytoplasm to the nucleus according to the physicochemical conditions which were used. Reading of some articles gives the impression that EBS histochemistry is yet an established and reliable method; commercially available histochemical "kits" may support this false idea. Therefore it is absolutely mandatory to intend to remain cautious and critical. Stepwise our knowledge is increasing; it is absolutely clear that the problems which did rise thanks to the "contradictory" histochemical studies gave a new impetus to both biochemical and histochemical research. Immunohisto- and cyto-chemistry of EBS and estrophilin go on in parallel and in correlation with biochemistry.     

Kynurenate and 2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate interact with multiple binding sites of the N-methyl-D-aspartate-sensitive glutamate receptor domain

By studying the binding of [3H]glycine and [3H]glutamate to rat synaptic membranes in the presence of 2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (APV) and kynurenate (KYN) we have demonstrated that KYN is more potent than APV in displacing [3H]glycine, while an opposite order of potency was seen in displacing [3H]glutamate. Moreover, 2-(2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl)propyl-1-phosphonic acid (CPP) inhibited only [3H]glutamate binding. The [3H]MK-801 specific binding was inhibited by all of the above antagonists; this action was abolished by glutamate, while glycine partially reversed only the action of KYN. Hence, KYN inhibits glutamate receptors by preferentially interfering with glycine recognition sites, while APV preferentially interacts with N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) recognition sites.     

Atropine modulates changes in striatal muscarinic receptor binding sites in barbital abstinence in the rat

We have previously reported that cholinergic mechanisms in the brain are involved in tolerance and physical dependence as expressed in the abstinence after 30–40 weeks forced chronic treatment with barbital to rats (for reviews see Nordberg & Wahlström 1980, 1981a). In the first part of the abstinence period the turnover of acetylcholine (ACh) seems to be increased in different areas of the brain since both decreased content of endogenous ACh and increased biosynthesis of ACh have been recorded (Nordberg & Wahlström 1977, 1979). These changes have been observed at peak abstinence when there is a maximal tolerance to hexobarbital and a maximal number of spontaneous convulsions. Some changes in cholinergic parameters may prevail in late abstinence as illustrated by reduced content of endogenous ACh in the striatum which is still present after 80 days of abstinence (Nordberg & Wahlström 1981b). The muscarinic receptors also undergo changes in the abstinence (Nordberg et al. 1980). In the striatum an increased number of binding sites has been measured on day 0 to 3 in the abstinence. Increases, but with different time courses, are seen also in other brain areas (Nordberg & Wahlström 1982).     

Strain-dependent decrease in glutamate binding to the N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor during aging

Glutamate binding to the N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor decreases in two strains of aged mice. In BALB/c mice the Bmax values decline 16% by 10 months and 45% by 30 months of age when compared to 3 months. The Kd increased more by 10 months (+29%) than by 30 months (+14%). In the C57Bl strain the Bmax was unaltered by 10 months but decreased 17% by 30 months. The Kd values, however, increased 121% by 10 months and 283% by 30 months of age. These data suggest that the age-related decline in glutamate binding to the NMDA receptor may predict a strain-specific reduction in NMDA-mediated processes (e.g. long-term potentiation, postsynaptic calcium fluxes).     

Genetically induced retinal degeneration leads to changes in metabotropic glutamate receptor expression

In the retina, neurotransmission from photoreceptors to ON-cone and rod bipolar cells is sign reversing and mediated by the metabotropic glutamate receptor mGluR6, which converts the light-evoked hyperpolarization of the photoreceptors into depolarization of ON bipolar cells. The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat retina undergoes progressive photoreceptor loss due to a genetic defect in the pigment epithelium cells. The consequences of photoreceptor loss and the concomitant loss of glutamatergic input to second-order retinal neurons on the expression of the metabotropic glutamate receptor was investigated in the RCS rat retina from early stages of photoreceptor degeneration (P17) up to several months after complete rod and cone degeneration (P120). The expression of the gene encoding mGluR6 was studied by in situ hybridization in the retina, using an [(35)S]dATP-labeled oligonucleotide probe. In congenic control and RCS retina, we found mRNA expression of mGluR6 receptor only in the outer half of the inner nuclear layer (INL) on emulsion-coated retinal sections. Quantitative analysis of the hybridization signal obtained from the autoradiographic films revealed decreased expression levels of the mGluR6 mRNA at early stages of photoreceptor degeneration (P17). On the contrary, increased expression levels were observed at late stages of degeneration (P60 and P120) in RCS compared to congenic control retina. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that the metabotropic glutamate receptor-6 mRNA levels are altered in the young and adult RCS rat retina and suggest that the genetically induced degeneration of photoreceptors affects the expression of this receptor by the INL retinal neurons.     

Dissociation between sensing and metabolism of glucose in sugar sensing neurones

Some of the neurones controlling sleep, appetite and hormone release act as specialized detectors of ambient glucose. Their sugar sensing is conventionally thought to involve glucokinase-dependent metabolism of glucose to ATP, which then alters membrane excitability by modulating ATP-dependent channels or transporters, such as ATP-inhibited K⁺ channels (K_ATP). However, recent studies also provide examples of both glucose-excited (GE) and glucose-inhibited (GI) neurones that sense glucose independently of such metabolic pathways. Two-thirds of hypothalamic GE neurones in primary cultures are also excited by the non-metabolizable glucose analogue α-methylglucopyranoside (α-MDG), which acts as a substrate for electrogenic (depolarizing) sodium–glucose cotransporter (SGLT). The excitatory responses to both glucose and α-MDG are abolished by arresting SGLT activity by sodium removal or the SGLT inhibitor phloridzin. Direct depolarization and excitation by glucose-triggered SGLT activity may ensure that GE neurones continue to sense glucose in 'high-energy' states, when K_ATP channels are closed. A major class of hypothalamic GI neurones, the orexin/hypocretin cells, also appear to use a non-metabolic sensing strategy. In these cells, glucose-induced hyperpolarization and inhibition are unaffected by glucokinase inhibitors such as alloxan, d -glucosamine, and N -acetyl- d -glucosamine, and mimicked by the non-metabolizable glucose analogue 2-deoxyglucose, but not by stimulating intracellular ATP production with lactate. The dissociation between sensing and metabolism of sugar may allow the brain to predict and prevent adverse changes in extracellular glucose levels with minimal impact on the flow of intracellular fuel.     

Elimination of granular cells after intrahippocampal colchicine injection causing disappearance of evoked potentials and deterioration of development of the conditioned avoidance reflex in rats

The aim of our work was to study the involvement, in the process of learning, of synapses between the perforant path and granular cells of the hippocampal dentate fascia for formation of a conditioned reflex (CR) of active avoidance elaborated in response to electrostimulation of the perforant path. To achieve this we used the property of the neurotoxin colchicine at a certain concentration of eliminating selectively the fascia cells. One month after colchicine injection we observed destruction of granular cells, disappearance of the dentate fascia focally evoked potentials, and considerable deterioration in the elaboration of active avoidance CR. Administration of saline solution in control experiments did not bring about such changes. The results obtained show the imporatant role of the entorhinal input into the hippocampus in the learning model used.Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel'nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 38, No. 2, pp. 298–304, March–April, 1988.     

Long term depletion of serotonin leads to selective changes in glutamate receptor subunits

The present study was carried out to clarify possible modulation mechanism of serotonin (5-HT) on glutamatergic neurotransmission in the rat cerebral cortex. 5-HT was depleted by a 5-HT metabolite blocker (para-chlorophenylalanine; pCPA) for a week. Receptor binding experiments using (S)-[(3)H]alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazol-4-propionic acid (AMPA) showed a considerable increase in B(max) value of the membrane samples prepared from the cerebral cortex of rats compared with that of control animals received saline. In contrast, B(max) value of the [(3)H]MK-801 binding experiments for NMDA receptor was not changed by pCPA-treatment. Changes in the density of each AMPA receptor subtype were examined in the cerebral cortex by immunoblot analyses using antibodies against AMPA receptor subunits. The density of immunoreactive bands with receptor subtype specific antibodies against GluR2/3 and GluR2 receptors was increased, whereas that of GluR1 receptors was decreased. Considering GluR2 receptor subtype inhibits Ca(2+) influx into neurons, the present study suggests that 5-HT appears to modulate synaptic plasticity by regulating the density of each AMPA receptor subtype.     

海马内注射LPS后诱导大鼠皮质星形胶质细胞活化和PirB的表达

目的:探讨海马内注射LPS(lipopolysaccharide,LPS)后,大鼠皮质神经元和星形胶质细胞PirB(paired-immunoglobulin-like receptor B)的表达变化。方法:成年SD大鼠,分为对照组和实验组,用免疫组织化学法检测大鼠脑皮质PirB的表达及星形胶质细胞GFAP的表达变化,免疫荧光双重标记技术,观察星形胶质细胞与PirB阳性细胞的共存。结果:PBS注射的对照组动物脑皮质Ⅴ层内可见PirB阳性神经元样细胞,呈圆形、卵圆形和锥体形,免疫反应产物呈棕色、主要位于细胞膜上;海马内注射LPS 30 d后,PirB阳性神经元样细胞和PirB阳性神经胶质样细胞主要分布于皮质Ⅳ、Ⅴ层,免疫反应产物位于胞质和突起内;另外,可见大鼠梨状皮质、内嗅皮质内GFAP阳性星形胶质细胞明显被激活,表现为细胞胞体相对增大,突起变粗。PirB分别和MAP-2、GFAP、CD11b免疫荧光双重标记染色显示:PirB和MAP-2阳性神经元的胞体存在共定位;PirB与GFAP阳性染色存在部分共定位,但未见PirB与CD11b阳性染色双标细胞。结论:LPS能诱导大鼠皮质星形胶质细胞活化和PirB蛋白表达上调,而且部分活化的星形胶质细胞表达PirB,PirB可能参与脑内炎症突触可塑性改变和学习记忆功能缺失的免疫调节。     

Recurrent seizures and hippocampal sclerosis following intrahippocampal kainate injection in adult mice: electroencephalography, histopathology and synaptic reorganization similar to mesial temporal lobe epilepsy

Human mesial temporal lobe epilepsy is characterized by hippocampal seizures associated with pyramidal cell loss in the hippocampus and dispersion of dentate gyrus granule cells. A similar histological pattern was recently described in a model of extensive neuroplasticity in adult mice after injection of kainate into the dorsal hippocampus [Suzuki et al. (1995) Neuroscience 64, 665-674]. The aim of the present study was to determine whether (i) recurrent seizures develop in mice after intrahippocampal injection of kainate, and (ii) the electroencephalographic, histopathological and behavioural changes in such mice are similar to those in human mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Adult mice receiving a unilateral injection of kainate (0.2 microg; 50 nl) or saline into the dorsal hippocampus displayed recurrent paroxysmal discharges on the electroencephalographic recordings associated with immobility, staring and, occasionally, clonic components. These seizures started immediately after kainate injection and recurrid for up to eight months. Epileptiform activities occurred most often during sleep but occasionally while awake. The pattern of seizures did not change over time nor did they secondarily generalize. Glucose metabolic changes assessed by [14C]2-deoxyglucose autoradiography were restricted to the ipsilateral hippocampus for 30 days, but had spread to the thalamus by 120 days after kainate. Ipsilateral cell loss was prominent in hippocampal pyramidal cells and hilar neurons. An unusual pattern of progressive enlargement of the dentate gyrus was observed with a marked radial dispersion of the granule cells associated with reactive astrocytes. Mossy fibre sprouting occurred both in the supragranular molecular layer and infrapyramidal stratum oriens layer of CA3. The expression of the embryonic form of the neural cell adhesion molecule coincided over time with granule cell dispersion. Our data describe the first histological, electrophysiological and behavioural evidence suggesting that discrete excitotoxic lesions of the hippocampus in mice can be used as an isomorphic model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.     

Age-related changes of benzodiazepine and GABA binding sites in the rat retina

The changes in the number and sensitivity of benzodiazepine and GABA binding sites in the rat retina during postnatal development, adulthood and ageing and their functional relationship at different ages have been studied. Data indicate an increase in the total number of both GABA and benzodiazepine binding sites with age. In contrast, the activation of retinal benzodiazepine receptor binding by GABA is significantly reduced in aged rats with respect to young adult and newborn rats. Moreover, the activation of retinal benzodiazepine receptor binding induced by dark exposure of the animals is present in young adult rats but is lost in aged rats. These results suggest that in the retina of aged rats there is an increase of GABA and benzodiazepine receptors which have lost their functional connection.