title: Active sulforhodamine 101 uptake into hippocampal astrocytes.
abstract: Sulforhodamine 101 (SR101) is widely used as a marker of astrocytes. In this study we investigated labeling of astrocytes by SR101 in acute slices from the ventrolateral medulla and the hippocampus of transgenic mice expressing EGFP under the control of the astrocyte-specific human GFAP promoter. While SR101 efficiently and specifically labeled EGFP-expressing astrocytes in hippocampus, we found that the same staining procedure failed to label astrocytes efficiently in the ventrolateral medulla. Although carbenoxolone is able to decrease the SR101-labeling of astrocytes in the hippocampus, it is unlikely that SR101 is taken up via gap-junction hemichannels because mefloquine, a blocker for pannexin and connexin hemichannels, was unable to prevent SR101-labeling of hippocampal astrocytes. However, SR101-labeling of the hippocampal astrocytes was significantly reduced by substrates of organic anion transport polypeptides, including estron-3-sulfate and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, suggesting that SR101 is actively transported into hippocampal astrocytes.
authors.affiliation: Abt. Neurophysiologie und Zelluläre Biophysik, Zentrum Physiologie und Pathophysiologie, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schnell
authors.forename: Yohannes
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hagos
authors.forename: Swen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hülsmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D056547:CA1 Region, Hippocampal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D002229:Carbenoxolone / Q000494:pharmacology; D004970:Estrone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D017629:Gap Junctions / Q000378:metabolism; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D015767:Mefloquine / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D027425:ATP-Binding Cassette, Sub-Family C Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D027361:Organic Anion Transporters / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D010455:Peptides / Q000378:metabolism; D012235:Rhodamines / Q000378:metabolism*; D059008:Time-Lapse Imaging
chemical_list: D002229:Carbenoxolone; D004970:Estrone; D015767:Mefloquine; D027425:ATP-Binding Cassette, Sub-Family C Proteins; D027361:Organic Anion Transporters; D010455:Peptides; D012235:Rhodamines; C050829:sulforhodamine 101; C017296:estrone sulfate