title: AMPA-preferring receptors mediate excitatory non-NMDA responses of primate retinal ganglion cells.
abstract: Glutamate and kainate-induced currents of primate ganglion cells were studied using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique in a retinal slice preparation. Antagonists and allosteric modulators of desensitization selective for either alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoazoleprionic acid (AMPA)- or kainate-preferring receptors were used to determine the contributions of each type of receptor to excitatory responses. With synaptic transmission and NMDA receptors blocked, the AMPA-preferring receptor antagonist GYKI 52466 (30 microM-100 microM) reversibly blocked most of the glutamate-induced current in ganglion cells. GYKI 52466 also blocked the response in ganglion cells to focally applied kainate, suggesting that the current response to kainate arises from activation of AMPA-preferring receptors, and not kainate-preferring receptors. Both cyclothiazide (10 microM-100 microM) and the novel drug 4-[2-(phenylsulfonylamino)ethylthio]-2,6-difluoro-phenoxyacetamide (PEPA, 20 microM-100 microM), which selectively enhance responses mediated by AMPA-preferring receptors, enhanced glutamate-induced responses of ganglion cells. Since these drugs preferentially inhibit desensitization of the flip and flop splice variants, respectively, of AMPA-preferring receptors, it is likely that both splice variants are present on these ganglion cells. Concanavalin A, which selectively suppresses the desensitization of kainate-preferring receptors, had no effect on the glutamate-induced responses of ganglion cells. We conclude that the non-NMDA component of the excitatory, glutamatergic input to primate ganglion cells is mediated largely by AMPA-preferring receptors, with little, if any, kainate-preferring receptor-mediated response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Opthalmology, Cullen Eye Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA. rjacoby@bcm.tmc.edu
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Jacoby
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D001581:Benzothiadiazines / Q000494:pharmacology; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D007608:Kainic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D010215:Papio; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D010642:Phenoxyacetates / Q000494:pharmacology; D018091:Receptors, AMPA / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism*; D018092:Kainic Acid Receptors / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000378:metabolism*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D001581:Benzothiadiazines; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D007608:Kainic Acid; D010642:Phenoxyacetates; D018091:Receptors, AMPA; D018092:Kainic Acid Receptors; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; C108189:4-(2-(phenylsulfonylamino)ethylthio)-2,6-difluorophenoxyacetamide; C061950:GYKI 52466; C004639:cyclothiazide