title: Loss of N-methyl-D-aspartate sensitivity of cerebellar Purkinje cells after climbing fiber deafferentation. An in vivo study in the rat.
abstract: The sensitivity of cerebellar Purkinje cells to brief iontophoretic applications of excitatory amino acids has been studied in vivo in rats treated from 15 days to 4 months beforehand with 3-acetylpyridine in order to destroy the inferior olive. Responses of Purkinje cells (PCs) chronically deprived of climbing fibers were thus investigated using extracellular microelectrodes and compared to those of a group of control rats. No changes in the relative efficiencies of L-glutamate, L-aspartate, quisqualate and kainate have been observed. In contrast, the excitations induced by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) on most PCs in control animals, were no longer present after climbing fiber deprivation. These results show that both NMDA and non-NMDA receptors are present on PCs of adult rodents and that the NMDA responses are strongly depressed when PCs are deafferented of the climbing fibers.
authors.affiliation: Unité de recherches sur l'épilepsie, INSERM U97, Paris, France.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Billard
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pumain
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D016202:N-Methylaspartate; D009498:Neurotoxins; D009847:Olivary Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D011725:Pyridines; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D009498:Neurotoxins; D011725:Pyridines; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter; C010835:3-acetylpyridine; D001224:Aspartic Acid; D016202:N-Methylaspartate