Kainate activates Ca2+-permeable glutamate receptors and blocks voltage-gated K+ currents in glial cells of mouse hippocampal slices

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Item Type:	Article
Title:	Kainate activates Ca2+-permeable glutamate receptors and blocks voltage-gated K+ currents in glial cells of mouse hippocampal slices
Creators Name:	Jabs, R., Kirchhoff, F., Kettenmann, H. and Steinhaeuser, C.
Abstract:	Glial cells in the CA1 stratum radiatum of the hippocampus of 9- to 12-day-old mice show intrinsic responses to glutamate due to the activation of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate (AMPA)/kainate receptors. In the present study we have focused on a subpopulation of the hippocampal glial cells, the "complex" cells, characterized by voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels. Activation of glutamate receptors in these cells led to two types of responses, the activation of a cationic conductance, and a longer-lasting blockade of voltage-gated K+ channels. In particular, the transient (inactivating) component of the outwardly rectifying K+ current was diminished by kainate. Concomitantly, as described in Bergmann glial cells, kainate also elevated cytosolic Ca2+. This increase was due to an influx via the glutamate receptor itself. In contrast to Bergmann glial cells, the cytosolic Ca2+ increase was not a link to the K+ channel blockade, since the blockade occurred in the absence of the Ca2+ signal and, vice versa, an increase in cytosolic Ca2+ induced by ionomycin did not block the transient K+ current. We conclude that glutamate receptor activation leads to complex and variable changes in different types of glial cells; the functional importance of these changes is as yet unresolved.
Keywords:	Glial Cell, Hippocampus, Glutamate Receptors, Kainate, Patch Clamp, Potassium Channels, Transmitter Modulation, Animals, Mice
Source:	Pfluegers Archiv European Journal of Physiology
ISSN:	0031-6768
Publisher:	Springer
Volume:	426
Number:	3-4
Page Range:	310-319
Date:	1 February 1994
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00374787
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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