title: gamma-Aminobutyric acid increases intracellular Ca2+ concentration in cultured cortical neurons: role of Cl- transport.
abstract: The effect of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in cultured prenatal rat cortical neurons was investigated using fluorescence imaging. GABA or muscimol, but not baclofen, increased [Ca2+]i in a dose-dependent manner. The GABAA receptor antagonists, bicuculline and picrotoxin, inhibited the GABA response. Furosemide, an inhibitor of the Na+/K+/2Cl- cotransporter, inhibited the GABA response in a noncompetitive manner. Ethacrynic acid, an inhibitor of an ATP-dependent Cl- pump, also inhibited the GABA-induced increased in [Ca2+]i. These results suggest a role for Cl- transport processes in the GABA response. The coapplication of GABA and high K+ led to a non-additive increase in the GABA response. The GABA response was also inhibited by nifedipine, a voltage-gated Ca2+ channel blocker, and abolished by the absence of extracellular Ca2+. Results indicate that the GABA response shares a common pathway of Ca2+ movement with the high K(+)-induced response. These observations suggest that the stimulation with GABA results in Ca2+ influx through voltage-gated Ca2+ channels, and that these effects are dependent on Cl- transport systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Hiroshima University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takebayashi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kagaya
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Motohashi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamawaki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D016257:Fura-2; D018755:GABA Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D018756:GABA Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D011188:Potassium / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D028021:Sodium-Potassium-Chloride Symporters; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D015220:Calcium Channels; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D018755:GABA Agonists; D018756:GABA Antagonists; D028021:Sodium-Potassium-Chloride Symporters; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D011188:Potassium; D002118:Calcium; D016257:Fura-2