title: Developmental changes in arachidonic acid potentiation of NMDA currents in cortical neurones.
abstract: Developmental changes in the effects of arachidonic acid (AA) on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated currents were investigated in acutely dissociated rat cortical neurones using a whole-cell patch-clamp method. AA potentiated peak NMDA currents (INMDA) in a concentration-dependent manner. Potentiation by AA was greater at 2-4 postnatal days (P2-4) than at P7-8 and P15-18. Indomethacin reduced the potentiating effect of AA only at P2-4, while caffeic acid and baicalein showed no apparent effect, indicating that metabolites of the cyclooxygenase pathway contribute to INMDA potentiation at P2-4. Staurosporine diminished the potentiation of INMDA at P2-4, suggesting that protein kinase C might participate in the effect of AA. These findings suggest that the greater potentiation of INMDA by AA at P2-4 has a different underlying mechanism from effects seen at P7-8 or older.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Akita University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Horimoto
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nabekura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000254:growth & development*; D016718:Arachidonic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects*; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D016718:Arachidonic Acid