Sudar Alagarsamy

Activation of NMDA receptors reverses desensitization of mGluR5 in native and recombinant systems

The metabotropic glutamate receptor, mGluR5, has a critical role in induction of NMDA-receptor-dependent forms of synaptic plasticity and excitotoxicity. This is likely mediated by a reciprocal positive-feedback interaction between these two glutamate receptor subtypes in which activation of mGluR5 potentiates NMDA receptor currents and NMDA receptor activation potentiates mGluR5-mediated responses. We have investigated the mechanism by which NMDA receptor activation modulates mGluR5 function and find evidence that this response is mediated by activation of a protein phosphatase and a resultant dephosphorylation of protein kinase C phosphorylation sites on mGluR5. This form of neuromodulation may be important in a number of normal and pathological processes that involve activation of the NMDA receptor.

The contribution of protease-activated receptor 1 to neuronal damage caused by transient focal cerebral ischemia

The serine proteases tissue plasminogen activator, plasmin, and thrombin and their receptors have previously been suggested to contribute to neuronal damage in certain pathological situations. Here we demonstrate that mice lacking protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR1) have a 3.1-fold reduction in infarct volume after transient focal cerebral ischemia. Intracerebroventricular injection of PAR1 antagonist BMS-200261 reduced infarct volume 2.7-fold. There are no detectable differences between PAR1-/- and WT mice in cerebrovascular anatomy, capillary density, or capillary diameter, demonstrating that the neuroprotective phenotype is not likely related to congenital abnormalities in vascular development. We also show that the exogenously applied serine proteases thrombin, plasmin, and tissue plasminogen activator can activate PAR1 signaling in brain tissue. These data together suggest that if blood-derived serine proteases that enter brain tissue in ischemic situations can activate PAR1, this sequence of events may contribute to the harmful effects observed. Furthermore, PAR1 immunoreactivity is present in human brain, suggesting that inhibition of PAR1 may provide a novel potential therapeutic strategy for decreasing neuronal damage associated with ischemia and blood–brain barrier breakdown.

NMDA-induced potentiation of mGluR5 is mediated by activation of protein phosphatase 2B/calcineurin.

Previous reports have shown that activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors potentiates responses to activation of the group I metabotropic glutamate receptor mGluR5 by reversing PKC-mediated desensitization of this receptor. NMDA-induced reversal of mGluR5 desensitization is dependent on activation of protein phosphatases. However, the specific protein phosphatase involved and the precise mechanism by which NMDA receptor activation reduces mGluR desensitization are not known. We have performed a series of molecular, biochemical, and genetic studies to show that NMDA-induced regulation of mGluR5 is dependent on activation of calcium-dependent protein phosphatase 2B/calcineurin (PP2B/CaN). Furthermore, we report that purified calcineurin directly dephosphorylates the C-terminal tail of mGluR5 at sites that are phosphorylated by PKC. Finally, immunoprecipitation and GST fusion protein pull-down experiments reveal that calcineurin interacts with mGluR5, suggesting that these proteins could be colocalized in a signaling complex. Taken together with previous studies, these data suggest that activation of NMDA receptors leads to activation of calcineurin and that calcineurin modulates mGluR5 function by directly dephosphorylating mGluR5 at PKC sites that are involved in desensitization of this receptor.

NMDA-induced phosphorylation and regulation of mGluR5

Glutamate regulates neuronal function by acting on ionotropic receptors such as the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor and metabotropic receptors (mGluRs). We have previously shown that low concentrations of NMDA are able to significantly potentiate mGluR5 responses via activation of a protein phosphatase and reversal of phosphorylation-induced desensitization. While low concentrations of NMDA are able to potentiate mGluR5 responses, higher concentrations of NMDA are actually inhibitory. In this report, we show that NMDA receptors and mGluR5 are highly colocalized in cortical regions. We also show that in voltage-clamp recordings obtained from Xenopus oocytes expressing mGluR5 and NMDA receptors, high concentrations of NMDA (50-100 microM) that elicited large currents (>400 nA) caused an inhibition of mGluR5 currents. Additionally, agonist-induced phosphoinositide hydrolysis presumably mediated by activation of mGluR5, is inhibited by NMDA (30 microM and above). Additional data presented in this report suggest that the inhibitory effect of NMDA is caused by phosphorylation of mGluR5 at protein kinase C (PKC) sites since NMDA induces phosphorylation of the receptor as measured in a back phosphorylation assay.

Metabotropic glutamate receptors modulate feedback inhibition in a developmentally regulated manner in rat dentate gyrus

We investigated group II metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) modulation of glutamatergic input onto hilar‐border interneurones and its regulation of feedback inhibition in the dentate gyrus. Selective activation of group II mGluRs with (2S,2′R,3′R)‐2‐(2′,3′‐dicarboxycyclopropyl)glycine (DCG‐IV) depressed mossy fibre (MF)‐evoked excitatory drive to these interneurones with significantly greater depression in juvenile than adult rats. During 20 Hz MF stimulus trains, EPSCs became depressed. Depression during the early, but not later part of the train was significantly greater in juvenile than adult rats and was blocked by the mGluR antagonist (2S)‐2‐amino‐2‐[(1S,2S)‐2‐carboxycycloprop‐1‐yl]‐3‐(xanth‐9‐yl) propanoic acid (LY341495). In dentate granule cells from juvenile rats polysynaptic feedback IPSCs, but not monosynaptic IPSCs, were strongly suppressed by DCG‐IV. DCG‐IV also suppressed feedback inhibition of perforant path‐evoked population spikes. In contrast, in adult animals DCG‐IV did not significantly depress feedback inhibition. During 20 Hz stimulus trains in juvenile animals the summation of polysynaptic, but not monosynaptic IPSCs was suppressed by synaptically activated group II mGluRs. Blockade of these mGluRs with LY341495 significantly increased the area and duration of the summated IPSC, causing greater feedback inhibition of granule cell firing. In contrast, in adult animals LY341495 did not alter feedback inhibition following the stimulus train. These findings indicate that group II mGluRs modulate excitatory drive to interneurones in a developmentally regulated manner and thereby modulate feedback inhibition in the dentate gyrus.

Activation of N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptors Reverses Desensitization of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor, mGluR5, in Native and Recombinant Systems

S. ALAGARSAMY, S. T. ROUSE, R. W. GEREAU IV, S. F. HEINEMANN, Y. SMITH, AND P. J. CONN Department of Pharmacology, Division of Neuroscience, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 92037, USA Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA

HIV Decreases Glutamate Transport in Sk-N-Mc Neuroblastoma Cells

Autopsy studies of patients with AIDS dementia have shown neuronal loss consistent with a neurotoxic component of this disease. In vitro studies suggest that viral products or cytokines from HIV-infected macrophages (Mphi) may modulate or directly mediate excitotoxic cell death of neurons. Mphi differentiated from peripheral mononuclear blood cultures were infected with HIV, and conditioned media (CM) were harvested from these cultures. Exposure of SK-N-MC (neuroblastoma) cells to CM from HIV-infected Mphi for 4, 24 or > or = 48 h resulted in a mean suppression of 12-34% of the glutamate transport Vmax with no appreciable change in transport Km. An astrocytoma tumor cell, U373MG, showed similar CM-mediated glutamate uptake suppression. Changes were evident in total and Na+-dependent glutamate uptake, with significantly more suppression of Na+-dependent uptake. Similar effects were seen with the nonmetabolizable transporter agonist D-aspartate, indicating that the effect was on transport and not metabolism. No suppression was seen with CM from uninfected Mphi or Mphi infected with heat-inactivated HIV. The magnitude of uptake suppression was not correlated with CM p24 values, and removal of CM virions by ultracentrifugation and immunoprecipitation did not alter the uptake-suppressive properties of infected Mphi CM. Uptake suppression was seen when Mphi were infected with Mphi-tropic strains HIV(SF162), HIV(JR-CSF), HIV(NFN-SX) and a Mphi-tropic patient isolate, but not the lymphotropic strain HIV(LAI). HIV-infected Mphi may produce substances which suppress neuronal and glial glutamate neurotransmitter uptake, resulting in higher extracellular glutamate levels and leading possibly to deficits in cell signaling and neurotoxicity.

Synthesis and Biological Activity of Terlipressin and its Putative Metabolites

Introduction Terlipressin (H-Gly3-LVP, GLYPRESSIN ® [1]), 1, is a peptide drug approved in some European and Asian countries for the treatment of bleeding esophageal varices and in France for hepatorenal syndrome. It presumably acts on the vasopressin 1a receptor (V1a-R), whose endogenous ligand is arginine vasopressin (AVP), to increase peripheral vascular resistance leading to increase in arterial blood pressure (ABP). Although 1 and AVP have both been used clinically to correct syndromes of inappropriate vasodilatation, 1 has much longer onset and duration of action [2,3]. It is hypothesized that 1 acts as a pro-drug and that its onset and duration of action are due to successive cleavage of the glycine N-terminal moieties to ultimately produce lysine vasopressin (LVP, 4). Each of the putative metabolites 2-4 would be biologically active. To determine the biological activity of the metabolites and further investigate the mechanism of action of 1, the peptides 1-4 were synthesized and tested both in vivo and in vitro.