tetrodotoxin and 2-amino-3-phosphonopropionic-acid

1. Depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition (DSI) is a form of synaptic plasticity which involves a retrograde messenger. We have performed experiments in Purkinje cells of rat cerebellar slices to determine the nature of this messenger. 2. DSI is mimicked by 2-(2,3-dicarboxycyclopropyl)-glycine (DCG-IV), a specific agonist of group II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). 3. DSI is reduced if transmitter release is inhibited by saturating doses of DCG-IV. 4. Both DSI and DCG-IV-induced inhibition are inhibited by L-2-amino-3-phosphonopropionic acid (L-AP3), a drug which interferes with several subtypes of mGluRs. 5. DSI is reduced if synaptic activity is enhanced by application of forskolin. 6. We propose that glutamate or a glutamate-like substance is the retrograde messenger implicated in DSI, and that the inhibition resulting from presynaptic glutamate binding is mediated by a decrease in the presynaptic concentration of cAMP.

Topics: 2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate; Alanine; Animals; Benzoates; Colforsin; Cyclopropanes; Electrophysiology; Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; Glutamic Acid; Glycine; Interneurons; Kinetics; Presynaptic Terminals; Purkinje Cells; Quinoxalines; Rats; Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate; Synapses; Synaptic Transmission; Tetrodotoxin

To investigate the electrophysiological effects of the stimulation of the metabotropic excitatory amino acid receptors, we applied trans-1-amino-cyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylate, an agonist of this type of receptors, on presumed rat dopamine cells intracellularly recorded in vitro. Trans-1-amino-cyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylate (3-30 microM, t-ACPD) caused a sustained increase of the spontaneous firing rate and a depolarization. When the membrane potential was held at about the resting level (-50, -60 mV), by the single-electrode voltage-clamp technique, t-ACPD induced an inward current. In 57% of the tested cells the inward current was associated with a decrease of the apparent input conductance. In the remaining cells no obvious changes in membrane conductance were observed. The active form of t-ACPD, (1S,3R)-1-amino-cyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylate [3-50 microM, (1S,3R)-ACPD] also produced a reversible inward current on the dopaminergic cells and this was antagonized by (S)-4-carboxy-3-hydroxyphenylglycine (300 microM), a selective antagonist of the (1S,3R)-ACPD-induced depolarization on central neurons. The (1S,3R)-ACPD-induced inward current was not antagonized by L-2-amino-3-phosphonopropionic acid (100 microM), an antagonist of the t-ACPD-induced activation of inositide synthesis. 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (10 microM), an alfa-amino-3-hydroxy-5- methyl-isoxazole propionic acid/kainate antagonist, DL-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (30 microM), an N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist, and scopolamine (10 microM), a muscarinic antagonist, did not significantly affect the actions of t-ACPD. A block of synaptic transmission obtained by applying tetrodotoxin failed to prevent the action of t-ACPD.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: 6-Cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione; Action Potentials; Alanine; alpha-Amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic Acid; Animals; Cycloleucine; Dopamine; Electrophysiology; Female; Glycine; Male; Neurons; Potassium; Quinoxalines; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate; Stimulation, Chemical; Tetrodotoxin

The modulation of high-threshold Ca2+ currents by the selective metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) agonist (1S,3R)-1-aminocyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylic acid (ACPD), was investigated in cultured hippocampal neurons using whole-cell voltage-clamp recording. ACPD reduced high-threshold Ca2+ currents carried by Ba2+ with an EC50 of 15.5 microM. The inhibition was reversible, voltage dependent, and blocked by L-2-amino-3-phosphonopropionic acid (1 mM) or by pretreatment with pertussis toxin. Inhibition by ACPD was greatly enhanced, and became irreversible, when the nonhydrolyzable GTP analog GTP gamma S was included in the whole-cell pipette. In some neurons, the Ba2+ current was inhibited by L(+)-2-amino-4-phosphonobutanoic acid (L-AP4) as well as ACPD while most cells were insensitive to L-AP4, suggesting that these agonists activate distinct receptors. The inhibition of Ca2+ currents was reduced but not eliminated in the presence of either omega-conotoxin GVIA or nifedipine, suggesting that both N- and L-type Ca2+ currents were affected. The degree and kinetics of inhibition were dependent on intracellular calcium. With [Ca]i < 1 nM, inhibition had a fast onset (t approximately 1-2 sec) and a rapid recovery, consistent with a membrane-delimited pathway. However, a slow component of inhibition appeared when the steady state [Ca]i was increased to 100 nM (t onset approximately 3 min). The slow component did not require transient Ca2+ influx or release of intracellular Ca2+. We suggest that Ca2+ channel modulation by ACPD involves either two mGluR subtypes with separate coupling mechanisms or a single mGluR that couples to both mechanisms.

Topics: Alanine; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Barium; Calcium Channel Blockers; Calcium Channels; Cells, Cultured; Cyclopentanes; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Electrophysiology; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; Guanosine 5'-O-(3-Thiotriphosphate); Hippocampus; Kinetics; Membrane Potentials; Neurons; Nifedipine; omega-Conotoxin GVIA; Peptides; Pertussis Toxin; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, Glutamate; Tetrodotoxin; Time Factors; Virulence Factors, Bordetella

Pharmacological studies of glutamate receptor stimulation of the phosphoinositide (PI) system have demonstrated that this response is blocked by several agents: 2-amino-3-phosphonopropionate (AP3), phorbol esters and in some preparations pertussis toxin. In electrophysiological studies of CA1 pyramidal neurons, we have found that pertussis toxin and AP3 (1-2 mM) do not block either the membrane depolarization or inhibition of the slow afterhyperpolarization elicited by trans-1-aminocyclopentyl-1,3-dicarboxylate (ACPD; 30 microM), a selective agonist of the PI-linked glutamate receptor. However, phorbol 12,13-diacetate (1-1.5 microM) which itself blocks the slow afterhyperpolarization, completely blocks the membrane depolarizing response elicited by ACPD. These results add to growing evidence for heterogeneity among PI-linked glutamate receptor responses.

Topics: Alanine; Animals; Cycloleucine; Electrophysiology; Hippocampus; In Vitro Techniques; Male; Neurons; Pertussis Toxin; Phorbol Esters; Phosphatidylinositols; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Receptors, Glutamate; Receptors, Neurotransmitter; Tetraethylammonium; Tetraethylammonium Compounds; Tetrodotoxin; Virulence Factors, Bordetella