title: Cooperative endocannabinoid production by neuronal depolarization and group I metabotropic glutamate receptor activation.
abstract: Endocannabinoids are retrograde messengers that are released from central neurons by depolarization-induced elevation of intracellular Ca2+ concentration [Ca2+]I or by activation of a group I metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR). We studied the interaction between these two pathways for endocannabinoid production in rat hippocampal neurons. We made a paired whole-cell recording from cultured hippocampal neurons with inhibitory synaptic connections. Activation of group I mGluRs, mainly mGluR5, by the specific agonist (RS)-3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine (DHPG), suppressed inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) in about half of the neuron pairs. A cannabinoid agonist, WIN55,212-2, suppressed IPSCs in all DHPG-sensitive pairs but not in most of DHPG-insensitive pairs. The effects of both DHPG and WIN55,212-2 were abolished by the cannabinoid antagonists, AM281 and SR141716A, indicating that activation of group I mGluR releases endocannabinoids and suppress inhibitory neurotransmitter release through activation of presynaptic cannabinoid receptors. Depolarization of the postsynaptic neurons caused a transient suppression of IPSCs, a phemomenon termed depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition (DSI) that was also abolished by cannabinoid antagonists. Importantly, DSI was enhanced significantly when group I mGluRs were activated simultaneously by DHPG. This enhancement was much more prominent than expected from the simple summation of depolarization-induced and group I mGluR-induced endocannabinoid release. DHPG caused no change in depolarization-induced Ca2+ transients, indicating that the enhanced DSI by DHPG was not due to the augmentation of Ca2+ influx. Enhancement of DSI by DHPG was also observed in hippocampal slices. These results suggest that two pathways work in a cooperative manner to release endocannabinoids via a common intracellular cascade.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular Neurophysiology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa 920-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Takako
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohno-Shosaku
authors.forename: Jumpei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shosaku
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsubokawa
authors.forename: Masanobu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kano
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D048588:Benzoxazines; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology; D063385:Cannabinoid Receptor Modulators; D002186:Cannabinoids / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D063388:Endocannabinoids; D018690:Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008734:Methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D009025:Morpholines / Q000494:pharmacology; D009281:Naphthalenes / Q000494:pharmacology; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D043882:Receptors, Cannabinoid; D011955:Receptors, Drug / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D018094:Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D013569:Synapses / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D048588:Benzoxazines; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D063385:Cannabinoid Receptor Modulators; D002186:Cannabinoids; D063388:Endocannabinoids; D018690:Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists; D009025:Morpholines; D009281:Naphthalenes; D043882:Receptors, Cannabinoid; D011955:Receptors, Drug; D018094:Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate; D008734:Methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol; C070417:(3R)-((2,3-dihydro-5-methyl-3-((4-morpholinyl)methyl)pyrrolo-(1,2,3-de)-1,4-benzoxazin-6-yl)(1-naphthalenyl))methanone; C010117:3,4-dihydroxyphenylglycol