4-(2-Butyl-6,7-dichloro-2-cyclopentyl-indan-1-on-5-yl) oxobutyric acid (DCPIB) was identified as the selective blocker of volume-regulated anion channels (VRAC). VRAC are permeable to small inorganic and organic anions, including the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate. In recent years DCPIB has been increasingly used for probing the physiologic and pathologic roles of VRAC and was found to p...

OBJECTIVE In this study, the antiarrhythmic and anti-ischemic effects of a 6 μg kg(-1) min(-1) infusion dose of remifentanil are investigated in a central sympathetic hyperactivity model in rabbits. METHODS In this study, 18 New Zealand rabbits were used. The subjects were randomly divided into three groups (n=6) and received 10 μmol L(-1) glutamate intracerebroventricularly to provide the ce...

Glial cells are increasingly recognized as active players that profoundly influence neuronal synaptic transmission by specialized signaling pathways. In particular, astrocytes have been shown recently to release small molecules, such as the amino acids l-glutamate and d-serine as "gliotransmitters," which directly control the efficacy of adjacent synapses. However, it is still controversial whe...

We assayed glutamate transport activity in cultures of rat cortical neurons containing < 0.2% astrocytes. Using [3H]L-glutamate as the tracer, sodium-dependent high affinity glutamate transport was demonstrated [K(m) = 17.2 +/- 2.4 microM; Vmax = 3.3 +/- 0.32 nmol/mg of protein/min (n = 5)]. Dihydrokainate (1 mM) inhibited uptake of radioactivity by 88 +/- 3% and had a Ki value of 65 +/- 7 micr...

We studied taste transduction in sensory receptor cells. Specifically, we examined the actions of glutamate, a significant taste stimulus, on the membrane properties of taste cells by applying whole cell patch-clamp techniques to cells in rat taste buds isolated from foliate and vallate papillae. In 55 of 91 taste cells, bath-applied glutamate, at concentrations that elicit taste responses in t...

Glutamate is the most important excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system which is involved in synaptic transmission, brain development, synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory. Normally, the enzymatic destruction of glutamate does not occur in the synaptic and extracellular space, but glutamate is removed through specific transporter proteins, leading to stabilization of glut...

The mechanisms of Ca2+ responses evoked in hippocampal glial cells in situ, by local application of glutamate and by synaptic activation, were studied in slices from juvenile rats using the membrane permeant fluorescent Ca2+ indicator fluo-3AM and confocal microscopy. Ca2+ responses induced by local application of glutamate were unaffected by the sodium channel blocker tetrodotoxin and were the...

1. Glutamate dehydrogenase was inhibited by l-serine O-sulphate, beta-chloro-l-alanine, O-phospho-l-serine and beta-chloro-l-alanine methyl ester. With the exception of beta-chloro-l-alanine methyl ester which was an irreversible inhibitor, it was possible to reverse the inhibitory effects by dialysis. 2. Both NAD(+) and glutamate afford some protection against the inhibition due to the methyl ...

Glutamate transporters play important roles in the termination of excitatory neurotransmission and in providing cells throughout the body with glutamate for metabolic purposes. The high-affinity glutamate transporters EAAC1 (SLC1A1), GLT1 (SLC1A2), GLAST (SLC1A3), EAAT4 (SLC1A6), and EAAT5 (SLC1A7) mediate the cellular uptake of glutamate by the co-transport of three sodium ions (Na(+)) and one...