Distribution of glutamate in layers of the rabbit hippocampal fields CA1, CA3, and the dentate area

Functional changes of glial glutamate transporter GLT-1 during ischemia: an in vivo study in the hippocampal CA1 of normal mice and mutant mice lacking GLT-1

Glutamate transporters remove glutamate from the extracellular space and maintain it below neurotoxic levels under normal conditions. However, the dynamics under ischemic conditions remain to be determined. In the present study, we evaluated the function of the glial glutamate transporter (GLT-1) during brain ischemia by using an in vivo brain microdialysis technique in GLT-1 mutant mice. A microdialysis probe was placed in the hippocampal CA1 of GLT-1 mutant and wild-type mice, and glutamate levels were measured during 5 and 20 min ischemia. The glutamate levels in mice lacking GLT-1 were significantly higher than the corresponding glutamate levels in wild-type mice during 5 min ischemia. Delayed neuronal death was induced in the CA1 of the mice lacking GLT-1 but not in the CA1 of the wild-type mice. When ischemia was elongated to the duration of 20 min, the glutamate levels in wild-type mice were significantly higher than the corresponding glutamate levels in mice lacking GLT-1 during the last 12.5 min of 20 min ischemia. Acute neuronal death was also observed in the CA1 of wild-type mice. These results suggest that GLT-1 takes up extracellular glutamate to protect neurons in the early stage of ischemia and then releases glutamate, triggering acute neuronal death, when ischemic conditions are elongated. The function of GLT-1 may change from neuroprotective to neurodegenerative during ischemia.

The anti-dementia drug FK960 stimulates glial glutamate release via a PKA pathway

The present study was conducted to understand the mechanism underlying the facilitatory action of FK960, an anti-dementia drug, on hippocampal neurotransmission. FK960 facilitated hippocampal neurotransmission in normal mice, and also in mice lacking the glial glutamate transporter, GLT-1 (glut-1(-/-)), but to a lesser extent. FK960 enhanced glutamate release from cultured hippocampal astrocytes from normal rats and mice, while the drug had no effect on the release from cultured rat hippocampal neurons. The glutamate release was still obtained with cultured hippocampal astrocytes from glut-1(-/-) mice, suggesting that the release is not due to GLT-1-mediated counter transport of glutamate. The FK960 action was inhibited by H-89, a selective inhibitor of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA), bafilomycin A1, an inhibitor of vesicular transport, or BAPTA-AM, a chelator of intracellular Ca(2+). FK960 caused an increase in intracellular Ca(2+) concentrations by stored Ca(2+) release in cultured rat hippocampal astrocytes, and H-89 abolished the increase. Forskolin, a PKA activator, mimicked the effect of FK960 on intracellular Ca(2+) mobilizations. Taken together, it appears that FK960 stimulates glutamate release from astrocytes, likely as a result of raising intracellular Ca(2+) concentrations via a PKA pathway. The FK960 action would increase synaptic glutamate concentrations, in part responsible for the facilitation of hippocampal neurotransmission. The results of the present study may provide a new idea that agents targeting astrocytes could serve as anti-dementia drugs.

A new neuromodulatory pathway with a glial contribution mediated via A(2a) adenosine receptors

A low concentration (10 nM) of adenosine potentiated hippocampal neuronal activity via A(2a) adenosine receptors without affecting presynaptic glutamate release or postsynaptic glutamatergic conductance. Adenosine inhibited glutamate uptake through the glial glutamate transporter, GLT-1, via A(2a) adenosine receptors. In addition, adenosine stimulated GLT-1-independent glutamate release from astrocytes, possibly in response to a rise in intracellular Ca(2+), via A(2a) adenosine receptors involving PKA activation. Those adenosine actions could lead to an increase in synaptic glutamate concentrations responsible for the potentiation of hippocampal neuronal activity. The results of the present study thus represent a novel neuromodulatory pathway with a glial contribution, bearing both inhibition of GLT-1 function and stimulation of glial glutamate release, as mediated via A(2a) adenosine receptors.

L-trans-PDC enhances hippocampal neuronal activity by stimulating glial glutamate release independently of blocking transporters

The glutamate transporter inhibitor, L-trans-pyrrolidine-2,4-dicarboxylic acid (PDC) reversibly enhanced hippocampal neuronal activity in the rat and mouse dentate gyrus. The PDC action was still found in mice lacking the glial glutamate transporter GLT-1. PDC did not influence the rate of spontaneous miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents and spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents, ionotropic glutamate receptor currents, or GABA-evoked currents in cultured rat hippocampal neurons. PDC increased glutamate released from cultured hippocampal astrocytes from normal rats, normal mice, and GLT-1 knock-out mice, that is not inhibited by deleting extracellular Na(+), while the drug had no effect on the release from cultured rat hippocampal neurons. The results of the present study thus suggest that PDC stimulates glial glutamate release by a mechanism independent of inhibiting glutamate transporters, which perhaps causes an increase in synaptic glutamate concentrations, in part responsible for the enhancement in hippocampal neuronal activity.

Neuroprotective effect of mild hypothermia cannot be explained in terms of a reduction of glutamate release during ischemia

An exogenous glutamate injection into the hypothermic hippocampal CA1 during 5-min ischemia produced the same extent of extracellular glutamate levels as observed in the normothermic CA1 during 5-min ischemia; however, neuronal death was not induced in the hypothermic CA1. Glutamate is released excessively into the extracellular space during ischemia, and is thought to induce brain injury by its neurotoxicity. It has been reported that the massive glutamate release is reduced by mild hypothermia, and it has been proposed that the reduction of ischemia-induced glutamate release exerts the neuroprotective effect on postischemic neuronal death. In the present study, to determine whether the neuroprotective effect of mild hypothermia on postischemic hippocampal CA1 neuronal death is due to the reduction of ischemia-induced glutamate release, gerbils were subjected to 5-min ischemia under hypothermic condition at 31 degrees C and were simultaneously injected exogenously with L-glutamate, so that the hypothermic CA1 around a microdialysis probe was exposed to the same extracellular glutamate levels as seen during normothermic ischemia, and the histological outcome was examined. An injection with 1 mM L-glutamate into the hypothermic CA1 during 5-min ischemia produced a similar extent of increased glutamate (17-fold increase) to that observed in the normothermic CA1 during 5-min ischemia (16-fold increase). However, neuronal death was not induced in the hypothermic CA1. This result indicates that the neuroprotective effect of mild hypothermia cannot be explained in terms of a reduction of glutamate release during ischemia.

Neurotoxicity of Clostridium perfringens epsilon-toxin for the rat hippocampus via the glutamatergic system

The neurotoxicity of epsilon-toxin, one of the major lethal toxins produced by Clostridium perfringens type B, was studied by histological examination of the rat brain. When the toxin was injected intravenously at a lethal dose (100 ng/kg), neuronal damage was observed in many areas of the brain. Injection of the toxin at a sublethal dose (50 ng/kg) caused neuronal damage predominantly in the hippocampus: pyramidal cells in the hippocampus showed marked shrinkage and karyopyknosis, or so-called dark cells. The dark cells lost the immunoreactivity to microtubule-associated protein-2, a postsynaptic somal and dendric marker, while acetylcholinesterase-positive fibers were not affected. Timm's zinc staining revealed that zinc ions were depleted in the mossy layers of the CA3 subfield containing glutamate as a synaptic transmitter. The cerebral blood flow in the hippocampus was not altered significantly before or after administration of the toxin, as measured by laser-Doppler flowmetry, excluding the possibility that the observed histological change was due to a secondary effect of ischemia in the hippocampus. Prior injection of either a glutamate release inhibitor or a glutamate receptor antagonist protected the hippocampus from the neuronal damage caused by epsilon-toxin. These results suggest that epsilon-toxin acts on the glutamatergic system and evokes excessive release of glutamate, leading to neuronal damage.

Evidence for the colocalization of parvalbumin and glutamate, but not GABA, in the perforant path of the gerbil hippocampal formation: a combined immunocytochemical and microquantitative analysis

Gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) are known for their seizure sensitivity, which is dependent on an intact perforant path from the entorhinal cortex to the hippocampus. In contrast with other species, the perforant path in gerbils contains parvalbumin, a cytosolic high-affinity calcium-binding protein. Parvalbumin is known to be present in a subpopulation of GABA-containing neurons and is thought to be responsible for their physiological characteristics of fast spiking activity and lack of spike adaptation. Therefore, the question arose of whether this projection in gerbils is GABAergic or glutamatergic as in other species. In a first approach to this question, the effect of lesioning the origin of the perforant path, the entorhinal cortex, on levels of GABA and glutamate was determined by enzymatic-luminometric assay in single layers of the dentate gyrus of lyophilized brain sections. Parallel sections were cryofixed using an acidified acetone-formaldehyde mixture at -20 degrees C for 48 h, and subsequently stained for parvalbumin immunocytochemistry. Seven days after ablation of the entorhinal cortex, parvalbumin staining was undetectable in the termination zone of the perforant path, the outer two-thirds of the stratum moleculare. In parallel, glutamate content was reduced to 80% of controls (and of the unoperated contralateral side) but unchanged in the inner third of the stratum moleculare and in stratum granulare. GABA content was not significantly altered by the lesion. From these results, we conclude that in the gerbil as in other species, the perforant path contains glutamate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Selective vulnerability of hippocampal CA1 neurons cannot be explained in terms of an increase in glutamate concentration during ischemia in the gerbil: Brain microdialysis study

Ischemia-induced selective neuronal injury to field CA1 is not attributable to selective glutamate release in field CA1 during ischemia. Excessive release of glutamate has been proposed to play a major role in ischemia-induced selective neuronal death in field CA1 of the hippocampus. It is well known that, following carotid arterial occlusion of 5 min duration in the gerbil, the pyramidal neurons in field CA1 show delayed neuronal death, whereas the neurons in field CA3 do not show any neuronal degeneration. In the present study, we measured the levels of released glutamate during ischemia in field CA1 and field CA3, separately, and evaluated whether there are subregional differences in the concentration of released glutamate which could be a satisfactory explanation for the selective vulnerability of hippocampal neurons to ischemia. Extracellular glutamate levels were significantly increased during ischemia in both field CA1 and field CA3. No significant differences were detected in the time-course of change in glutamate release and the levels of glutamate between field CA1 and field CA3. This result indicates that the increased glutamate levels do not play a pivotal part in the detrimental effect of glutamate during 5-min ischemia. Some differentiated post-synaptic organization may act as a crucial factor in the development of ischemia-induced selective neuronal death in the gerbil hippocampus.

Selective reduction of glutamate in the rat superior colliculus and dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus after contralateral enucleation

The effects of afferent lesions on the levels of glutamate, aspartate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the laminae of the superior colliculus (SC) and dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) of the rat were studied, using microassay methods for these amino acids. The analysis was performed 12-14 days after left eye enucleation, or ablation of right visual cortical area, or both left eye enucleation and ablation of right visual cortex. Superficial gray layer (SGL) and deep layers in the SC were dissected out from the thin-sectioned, freeze-dried sample. In the dLGN, the outer and inner laminae were separately dissected. The glutamate contents in the upper half of SGL and outer lamina of dLGN contralateral to eye enucleation decreased significantly (15%). Combination of eye enucleation and visual cortical ablation further decreased the glutamate content in the upper half of the right SGL (29.3%). On the other hand, aspartate and GABA concentrations in the SC and dLGN exhibited no significant reduction after deafferentations. These results indicate that the retino-tectal and retino-geniculate pathway of the rat may be glutamatergic in nature.

Critical levels of extracellular glutamate mediating gerbil hippocampal delayed neuronal death during hypothermia: brain microdialysis study

When the brain temperature was lowered by 2 degrees C from normothermic temperature, a protective effect on postischemic neuronal death was exhibited and levels of extracellular glutamate were attenuated to about half of those at normothermic brain temperature in the gerbil hippocampus. Hypothermia has been reported to confer a protective effect on ischemia-induced delayed neuronal death. The present study was carried out to quantify this protective effect of hypothermia on the degree of alteration in extracellular release of glutamate during ischemia and the final histopathological outcome in the hippocampus. Extracellular glutamate levels were measured by microdialysis. In gerbils whose brain temperature was maintained at normothermia (37 degrees C), glutamate increased during ischemia and the early period of recirculation (by 15-fold), and CA1 neurons were consistently damaged. In animals whose brain temperature was maintained at 35 or 33 degrees C during ischemia, the release of glutamate was significantly attenuated to half or a quarter, respectively, at 37 degrees C. In animals whose brain temperature was maintained at 31 degrees C during ischemia, the release of glutamate was slightly lower than that at 33 degrees C. No CA1 ischemic neuronal damage was seen in 60% of gerbils at 35 degrees C and none was seen in any gerbils at 33 and 31 degrees C. In animals whose brain temperature was maintained at 39 degrees C during ischemia, the release of glutamate was slightly higher than that at 37 degrees C, and a high mortality rate of animals (75%) was observed. Our results reinforce other recent evidence suggesting that one of the mechanisms by which lowering of the brain temperature by only a few degrees during ischemia exerts a protective effect in the hippocampus, involves the reduction of ischemia-induced glutamate release.

Involvement of a protein kinase C-dependent process in long-term potentiation formation in guinea pig superior colliculus slices

Superior colliculus (SC) slices were prepared from guinea pig. Electrical stimulation was applied to the optic layer (OL) of the SC slices and the postsynaptic potential (PSP) was evoked in the superficial grey layer (SGL) of the SC. Tetanic stimulation to the OL evoked long-term potentiation (LTP) in the PSP. To investigate the involvement of the protein kinase C (PKC) system on the LTP formation in the SC, the effects of PKC activator (phorbol ester) and PKC inhibitors (polymyxin B, melittin and H-7) on the LTP formation have been studied. Application of phorbol ester to the medium at concentrations between 10(-8) and 10(-10) M increased the amplitude of the PSP. On the other hand, the presence of phorbol ester at a concentration of 10(-6) M increased the glutamate release from the SGL slices. Tetanic stimulation which could not induce LTP by itself could elicit LTP during application of phorbol esters at the low concentration (3 X 10(-12) M). PKC inhibitors such as polymyxin B (10(-7) M), melittin (10(-8) M) and H-7 (10(-4) M) prevented LTP formation. When H-7 was applied once after LTP was formed, the enhanced PSP reduced to the original level. These results strongly indicate the involvement of PKC system on the LTP formation in the SC slices.

Gerbil hippocampal extracellular glutamate and neuronal activity after transient ischemia

In order to elucidate the role of glutamate in the pathogenesis of delayed neuronal death, we analyzed changes in extracellular levels of glutamate induced by transient ischemia in the Mongolian gerbil hippocampus by a new brain microdialysis method combined with an enzymatic cycling technique. We also studied the effect of this change in glutamate on CA1 spontaneous neuronal discharges. The level of glutamate significantly increased during the 5 min of ischemia and during the first 5 min of recirculation. However, neuronal hyperactivity anticipated as a result of the increased extracellular glutamate was not observed. Spike discharges disappeared during and shortly after 5 min of ischemia; CA1 spontaneous spike discharges reappeared about 15 min after the recirculation. The frequency and amplitude of the discharges of CA1 neurons returned to normal by 30 min of the recirculation. However, the pattern of discharges was different from that recorded before the ischemia. CA1 neurons were found dead 4 days after the ischemia. Brief exposure to toxic concentrations of glutamate may cause the delayed neuronal death.

Masking effect of NMDA receptor antagonists on the formation of long-term potentiation (LTP) in superior colliculus slices from the guinea pig

After electrical stimulation of the optic layer (OL) of superior colliculus (SC) slices, the postsynaptic potential (PSP) was recorded in the superficial gray layer (SGL) of the SC. The degeneration studies of retinotectal or corticotectal inputs to the SGL of the SC indicated that this PSP evoked in the SGL of the SC slices was retinotectal in origin. Neurotransmission in this pathway may be mediated by glutamate, because the PSP amplitude was reduced and blocked by application of kynurenate or quinoxaline dione (DNQX) to the medium. Furthermore, the concentration of glutamate in the right SGL was significantly reduced by 32% after left optic denervation and by 30% after ablation of the right visual cortex, compared with that in the left SGL. Long-term potentiation (LTP) in the SGL was induced by tetanic stimulation (50 Hz, 20 s) to the OL. The LTP formation was facilitated by the removal of Mg2+ from the medium. The effects of glutamate antagonists D-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (D-APV), gamma-D-glutamylglycine (gamma-DGG), and (+)-5-methyl-10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo, a,d-cycloheptene-5,10-imine maleate (MK-801) on the induction of LTP were investigated. D-APV (100 microM) or gamma-DGG (1 mM) masked the expression of LTP by tetanic stimulation, however LTP was induced after removal of the agents. LTP formation was observed without further tetanic stimulation following the removal of D-APV from the medium even 80 min after the tetanic stimulation. LTP once formed was not influenced by application of D-APV.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Reduction of glutamate content in rat superior colliculus after retino-tectal denervation

The effect of afferent lesions on glutamate content was measured in the lamina of the superior colliculus (SC) in the rat. The analysis was performed 12 days after unilateral enucleation (left eye), or ablation of visual cortex (right), or both enucleation and ablation. The glutamate contained in the superficial grey layer (SGL) and deep layer was measured in the sectioned freeze-dried sample using an enzymatic cycling method of NAD-NADH. The upper layer of SGL contralateral to enucleation exhibited a significant reduction (23%) in glutamate content. Combining enucleation and ablation further decreased (35%) glutamate content. Additionally, the synaptic potential evoked in the SGL of SC slices after stimulation of optic layer was blocked by the application of kynurenic acid (3 mM) or DNQX (30 microM). These results indicate that the retino-tectal pathway in the rat can be glutamatergic in nature.

Release of glutamate and of free fatty acids in vasogenic brain edema

The pathophysiological potential of mediator substances in manifestations of secondary brain damage is attracting increased attention. This is particularly true of the excitatory transmitters glutamate and arachidonic acid. Noxious properties of these compounds in central nervous tissue have been demonstrated. The current study was performed to determine whether glutamate and arachidonate are released in brain tissue secondary to focal trauma. For this purpose, a cold injury of exposed cerebral cortex was induced in cats. Marked accumulation of glutamate was observed in interstitially drained edema fluid, reaching 10 to 15 times the level that was assessed in normal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) prior to trauma. The extracellular release of glutamate was further dramatically enhanced by a critical decrease of the cerebral perfusion pressure due to a malignant increase of intracranial pressure. Under these conditions, glutamate concentrations 1000 to 1500 times normal levels accumulated in vasogenic edema fluid, demonstrating a relationship between the extent of the release of glutamate in damaged brain and the severity of the insult. Although under normal conditions glutamate concentrations in plasma were considerably higher than in the interstitial fluid, the pronounced increase of glutamate in this compartment due to trauma cannot be explained by transport of the compound together with the plasma-like edema from the intravascular space. Corresponding findings were obtained for free fatty acid concentrations in edema fluid. Almost all fatty acids that were studied had a significantly higher concentration in edema fluid than in normal CSF obtained as a control prior to trauma. However, contrary to the findings for glutamate, fatty acid concentrations in edema fluid were lower than in plasma. Accumulation of fatty acids in vasogenic edema fluid might, therefore, have resulted from uptake of the material together with edema fluid through the breached blood-brain barrier. Arachidonic acid was an exception. Its concentrations were significantly higher in edema fluid than in plasma, suggesting that it was released from cerebral parenchyma as the underlying mechanism of its extracellular accumulation. The current observations provide further support for a mediator function of glutamate and arachidonic acid in acute traumatic lesions of the brain. Quantitative assessment of the release of highly active mediator substances in brain tissue may facilitate analysis of the therapeutic efficiency of specific treatment aimed at interfering with the release or pathological function of mediators of secondary brain damage.

Fine distribution of gamma-aminobutyric acid, glutamic acid decarboxylase, and glutamic acid in the rabbit cerebellum

The fine distribution of GABA, glutamic acid decarboxylase, and glutamic acid within each layer of the rabbit cerebellar cortex was determined with microanalytical methods. The greatest glutamic acid decarboxylase activity and the highest GABA concentration were found in the Purkinje cell layer. In the distribution of GABA and glutamic acid decarboxylase the peak of glutamic acid decarboxylase activity was more pronounced than that of GABA; the concentration of glutamic acid did not show much variation between each layer.

The distribution of neurons containing delta sleep-inducing peptide in the hippocampal formation

The distribution of neurons containing immunoreactive delta sleep-inducing peptide (IDSIP) in the hippocampal formation was investigated by immunocytochemistry. For this study, thirteen antisera to the peptide were used. Three antisera were found suitable for immunocytochemistry; the remainder gave only non-specific background staining. Neurons containing IDSIP were demonstrable in the subicular cortex immediately adjacent to CA1. No specific staining was found in other parts of the hippocampal formation including the pyramidal layer of Ammon's Horn and the dentate gyrus. These three antisera also stained cells in the cerebral cortex-primarily temporal, parietal and frontal regions--as well as in the ventral forebrain, although the number of cells in each area varied somewhat with the different antisera. The presence of IDSIP in neurons which constitute the major efferent pathway of the hippocampus, as well as in areas known to be functionally related to the hippocampus, i.e., the adjacent isocortices and ventral forebrain, suggests a possible role for the peptide in the regulation of behavior.

A neural plasticity hypothesis of schizophrenia

An extensive research effort has failed, thus far, to conclusively identify a specific disease process (or processes) underlying the behavioral symptoms of schizophrenia. The present paper will entertain the hypothesis that the structural and functional plasticity of the brain can constitute a "nonspecific" biological etiology of schizophrenia. This plasticity need not be accompanied by infectious processes or gross alterations in neurotransmitter levels, enzyme activities, etc. that are specific to schizophrenia. The monkey isolation syndrome provides a precedent for a causal relationship between brain plasticity and pathological behavior. In a speculative manner, it will be demonstrated that neural plasticity concepts can be invoked to potentially explain several aspects of schizophrenia: the various types of behavioral symptoms exhibited by schizophrenics, the regional alterations in brain structure and function seen in chronic schizophrenics, the involvement of genetic and environmental etiological factors, the pharmacological support for the dopamine hypothesis, and the delayed onset of neuroleptic antipsychotic action. Considering the explanatory potential of neural plasticity concepts, a research program which focuses on these concepts seems warranted.

Cytoarchitectonic distribution of zinc in the hippocampus of man and the rat

Zinc was measured in whole hippocampus and in hippocampal sub-regions by stable-isotope dilution mass spectrometry. In both man and the rat, the most zinc (102-145 ppm, dry weight) was found in the hilar region, the least (27-35) in the fimbria. The amount of zinc directly associated with mossy-fiber axons was estimated to be approximately 8% of the total zinc in the hippocampus, and the concentration of mossy-fiber zinc was estimated at 220-300 microM. Methodological and theoretical implications of the quantitative findings were discussed.

First visualization of glutamate and GABA in neurones by immunocytochemistry

Immunocytochemical methods for peptides and serotonin have greatly advanced the study of neurones in which these substances are likely to be transmitters. Such direct techniques have not so far been available for the amino acid transmitter candidates. We report here the selective immunocytochemical visualization of the putative transmitters glutamate (Glu) and gamma-aminobutyrate (GABA) by the use of antibodies raised against the amino acids coupled to bovine serum albumin (BSA) with glutaraldehyde (GA). The tissue localizations of Glu-like and GABA-like immunoreactivities (Glu-LI and GABA-LI) matched those of specific uptake sites for Glu and GABA, and, in the case of GABA-LI, also that of the specific marker enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD). Thus, GABA-LI was located in what are believed to be GABAergic inhibitory neurones, whereas Glu-LI was concentrated in excitatory, possibly glutamatergic neurones. Preliminary electron microscopic observations suggest that the transmitter amino acids are significantly concentrated in synaptic vesicles.

Zinc and glutamate dehydrogenase in putative glutamatergic brain structures

A certain topographic parallelism between the distribution of histochemically (TIMM staining) identified zinc and putative glutamatergic structures in the rat brain was demonstrated. Glutamate dehydrogenase as a zinc containing protein is in consideration to be an enzyme synthesizing transmitter glutamate. In a low concentration range externally added zinc ions (10(-9) to 10(-7) M) induced an increase in the activity of glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) originating from rat hippocampal formation, neocortex, and cerebellum up to 142.4%. With rising molarity of Zn(II) in the incubation medium, the enzyme of hippocampal formation and cerebellum showed a biphasic course of activation. Zinc ions of a concentration higher than 10(-6) M caused a strong inhibition of GDH. The effect of Zn(II) on GDH originating from spinal ganglia and liver led only to a decrease of enzyme activity. These results are discussed in connection with a functional correlation between zinc and putatively glutamatergic system.

Mass spectographic analysis of stimulated release of endogenous amino acids from rat hippocampal slices

Amino acids released from in vitro rat hippocampal slices following stimulation of the Schaffer's collateral pathway, were collected by micro-perfusion and analysed by chemical ionization mass spectrometry, with isotope ratiodetermination as the quantitative technique, through the use of stable, isotopically labeled internal standards. Stimulation at 10 pulses/sec resulted in a doubling of the release of aspartic acid over the resting level and about a 60% increase in glutamate release, which is in essential agreement with studies utilizing K+ depolarization-evoked release from slices.

Large dense-core vesicle exocytosis and membrane recycling in the mossy fibre synapses of the rabbit hippocampus during epileptiform seizures

The ultrastructure of the hippocampal mossy fibre layer was studied in ultrathin sections and freeze-fracture preparations of rabbits under deep Nembutal anaesthesia, after recovery from ether anaesthesia, and 40 min after a single injection of methoxypyridoxine, that is, during the second generalized seizure discharge. The giant mossy fibre boutons contain two types of vesicles: evenly distributed, small round clear vesicles (50 nm) and a few scattered large dense-core vesicles (100 nm). In rare instances fusion of dense-core vesicles with the presynaptic membrane was observed. No differences in the morphology of the mossy fibre synapses were found between anaesthetized and unanaesthetized animals. During epileptiform seizures, however, the size and shape of clear and dense-core vesicles varied greatly. The active synaptic zones were covered with large, core-containing omega profiles or bumps and indentations. Only dense-core vesicles seem to undergo exocytosis. A fusion of clear vesicles with presynaptic membrane was not observed. Various explanations for the fact that only dense-core vesicles seem to undergo exocytosis are discussed. The hypothesis is put forward that in the mossy fibre bouton two morphologically and functionally distinct populations of synaptic vesicles exist and that only one of them undergoes visible irreversible exocytosis, whereas the majority, that is, the small vesicles discharge their transmitter by reversible fusion. After MP injection features of membrane retrieval were also prominent. Frequently, at the borders of the active synaptic zones coated membrane convolutes of both pre- and postsynaptic membranes had invaded the terminals as well as the postsynaptic spine. Thus, in contrast to electrical stimulation, the self-sustained seizures allows energy-expensive processes such as extensive membrane internalization to take place during the interictal pauses.