title: An in vitro study of retinotectal transmission in the chick: role of glutamate and GABA in evoked field potentials.
abstract: We have developed two brain slice preparations for studying tectofugal visual pathways in the chick: conventional, 400-microns slices ("thin slices"), and "thick slices" which encompass the rostral pole of the optic tectum and the contralateral optic nerve. Stimulation was delivered with a bipolar electrode positioned in stratum opticum in thin slices and in the contralateral optic nerve in thick slices. While the latter preparation provided a means of exclusively and unambiguously activating retinal afferents, several lines of evidence also indicated that the evoked field potentials in thin slices were chiefly consequent to retinal afferent excitation: (1) the similarity of evoked field potentials in thin slices to those in thick slice preparations; (2) their precise localization in retinorecipient layers as shown by prelabeling from retina with FITC-coupled cholera toxin; (3) transmission delays appropriate for retinal afferents as established with the thick slice preparation; (4) patterns of labeled afferents resulting from applications of Dil crystals to slices fixed after recording; and (5) the similarity in transmitter pharmacology between thin and thick slice preparations. Pharmacological manipulations carried out with bath-applied antagonists indicated that glutamate is the principal retinotectal transmitter. The broadly active glutamate receptor blocker, kynurenic acid, reversibly eliminated the postsynaptic component of the field potential as confirmed with 0 Ca2+ saline. A complete block was also effected by the non-NMDA antagonists CNQX and DNQX. The specific NMDA antagonist, AP5, caused a smaller and variable reduction in response amplitude. The GABA antagonist, bicuculline, caused a prolongation of the monosynaptic field epsp in retinorecipient layers and an enhancement of the long-latency, negative wave in cellular layers below, supporting a late, excitation-limiting role for this inhibitory transmitter.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0608, USA.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Dye
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Karten
mesh_terms: D015763:2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate / Q000494:pharmacology; D018750:6-Cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000502:physiology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D011810:Quinoxalines / Q000494:pharmacology; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013477:Superior Colliculi / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D011810:Quinoxalines; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; C056723:FG 9041; D018750:6-Cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione; D015763:2-Amino-5-phosphonovalerate