ABSTRACT
The enantiomers of erythro-3-hydroxyaspartate were tested for activity at glutamate transporters and NMDA receptors. Both enantiomers inhibited glutamate transporters in rat hippocampal crude synaptosomes and elicited substrate-like activity at excitatory amino acid transporter 1, 2, and 3 as measured by voltage clamp in the Xenopus oocyte expression system. The enantiomers had similar affinities, but the D-enantiomer showed a lower maximal effect at excitatory amino acid transporter 1, 2, and 3 than the L-enantiomer. Surprisingly, D-erythro-3-hydroxyaspartate was a potent NMDA receptor agonist with an EC50 value in rat hippocampal neurons of 320 nM, whereas the L-enantiomer was 100-fold less potent. L-erythro-3-hydroxyaspartate showed activity at both glutamate transporters and NMDA receptors at concentrations that are reported to inhibit serine racemase, indicating a lack of selectivity. This enantiomeric pair may assist in shedding further light on the structural requirements for substrate activity at glutamate transporters and for agonist activity at NMDA receptors. The erythro enantiomers of 3-hydroxyaspartate had interesting and surprising effects on glutamate neurotransmitter systems. L-erythro-3-hydroxyaspartate had activity at both glutamate transporters (EAAT1/2/3) and NMDA receptors. D-erythro-3-hydroxyaspartate acted on EAATs, but was also identified as a highly potent NMDA receptor agonist. These enantiomers shed further light on the structural requirements for activity at EAATs and NMDA receptors.
ABSTRACT
Understanding the storage and release of the excitatory neurotransmitter, L-glutamate by synaptic vesicles has lagged behind receptor characterizations due to a lack of pharmacological agents. We report that the glutamate analog, 3-aminoglutarate (3-AG) is a "silent" false transmitter for glutamate neurons that may be a useful tool to study storage and release mechanisms. Like L-glutamate itself, 3-AG is a high-affinity substrate for both the plasma membrane (EAATs) and vesicular (vGLUT) glutamate transporters. As such, EAATs facilitate 3-AG entry into neuronal cytoplasm allowing 3-AG to compete with L-glutamate for transport into vesicles thus reducing glutamate content. In a synaptosomal preparation, 3-AG inhibited calcium-dependent endogenous L-glutamate release. Unlike L-glutamate, 3-AG had low affinity for both ionotropic (NMDA and AMPA) and G-protein coupled (mGlu1-8) receptors. Consequently, 3-AG behaves as a "silent" false transmitter that may be used in physiological experiments to probe synaptic vesicle storage and release mechanisms for L-glutamate. The companion paper by Wu et al. (2015) describes initial experiments that explore the effects of 3-AG on glutamate synaptic transmission under physiological and pathophysiological conditions.
Subject(s)
Glutamates/pharmacology , Glutamic Acid/metabolism , Neurons/drug effects , Neurotransmitter Agents/pharmacology , Animals , Calcium/metabolism , Cell Membrane/drug effects , Cell Membrane/metabolism , Cells, Cultured , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Glutamate Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins/genetics , Glutamate Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins/metabolism , Hippocampus/drug effects , Hippocampus/physiology , Humans , Membrane Potentials/drug effects , Membrane Potentials/physiology , Neurons/physiology , Oocytes , Prosencephalon/drug effects , Prosencephalon/physiology , Rats, Wistar , Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled/metabolism , Receptors, Ionotropic Glutamate/metabolism , Synaptic Vesicles/drug effects , Synaptic Vesicles/metabolism , XenopusABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The prostamide bimatoprost and prostanoid FP receptor agonists are highly efficacious drugs for glaucoma treatment. The presence of both prostamide and prostanoid FP receptors in bimatoprost-sensitive preparations has made prostamide receptor classification difficult. This study investigated a novel bimatoprost-sensitive preparation. METHODS: Human peripheral blood T lymphoblasts (Molt-3) and human osteoblasts (hFOB) were cultured for intracellular calcium signaling studies and quantitative real-time PCR analysis of RNA. RESULTS: Bimatoprost stimulated concentration-related increases in [Ca(2 +)](i) in a human T-cell line that does not express human FP receptor/variants, according to PCR analysis. The calcium signal induced by bimatoprost was not antagonized by prostanoid FP receptor antagonist/partial agonist AL-8810 or selective TP receptor antagonist SQ 29548. Conversely, bimatoprost did not elevate [Ca(2 +)](i) in human osteoblasts, which were confirmed to contain RNA of human FP receptor/variants. CONCLUSIONS: Molt-3 cells have been identified as a bimatoprost-sensitive preparation in which the activity of bimatoprost is independent of prostanoid FP receptors.
