title: Effects of low doses of bicuculline on N-methyl-D-aspartate single-channel kinetics are not evident in whole-cell currents.
abstract: Bicuculline methiodide (BIC-Mel) (10-100 microM) altered the kinetics of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) responses in single-channel and whole-cell recordings. The principal effect of BIC-Mel (10-100 microM) on NMDA channels was a dose-dependent decrease in mean channel open time (tau o), accompanied by the introduction of a new closed time (tau B) of 14.0 +/- 3.5 msec (mean +/- standard deviation; n = 14) in closed time distributions, which was independent of BIC-Mel concentration. BIC-Mel (10-100 microM) increased the frequency of NMDA channel opening in a dose-dependent manner, offsetting the decrease in tau o, such that the total time spent in the open state per minute was unchanged, and thus the total charge/min through NMDA channels was unchanged. Similarly, the amplitudes of NMDA whole-cell current responses were not noticeably affected by 10-80 microM BIC-Mel, even though power spectra density analysis of the whole-cell NMDA-stimulated noise revealed changes in the underlying channel kinetics in the presence of BIC-Mel. Taken together, the effects of 10-80 microM BIC-Mel on NMDA responses were consistent with the predictions of the sequential block model; however, the effects of BIC-Mel exhibited no obvious voltage dependence. In addition to the low-dose effects of BIC-Mel, 100 and 200 microM BIC-Mel inhibited whole-cell NMDA responses. The inhibition by 100 microM BIC-Mel was not large, but it was augmented from 15% to 30% by increasing the NMDA concentration from 10 microM NMDA to 20 microM NMDA, indicating that channel activation was necessary for BIC-Mel-mediated inhibition. Preliminary single-channel experiments performed under conditions conducive to trapping of an open channel blocker at its binding site indicated that the effect of BIC-Mel on tau o persisted after the removal of the blocker, consistent with use dependence of the dissociation of BIC-Mel from the NMDA receptor-channel complex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Nowak
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001640:Bicuculline / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D005333:Fetus; D007700:Kinetics; D051379:Mice; D016202:N-Methylaspartate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D016548:Prosencephalon / Q000502:physiology*; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; C017069:bicuculline methiodide; D016202:N-Methylaspartate; D001640:Bicuculline