Oligodendrocytes, the myelin-forming glial cells of the central nervous system, maintain longterm axonal integrity [1][2][3] . However, the underlying support mechanisms are not understood 4 . Here we identify ametabolic component of axon-glia interactions by generating conditional Cox10 (protoheme IX farnesyltransferase) mutant mice, in which oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells fail to assemble stable mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase (COX, also known as mitochondrial complex IV). In the peripheral nervous system, Cox10 conditional mutants exhibit severe neuropathy with dysmyelination, abnormal Remak bundles, muscle atrophy and paralysis. Notably, perturbing mitochondrial respiration did not cause glial cell death. In the adult central nervous system, we found no signs of demyelination, axonal degeneration or secondary inflammation. Unlike cultured oligodendrocytes, which are sensitive to COX inhibitors 5 , postmyelination oligodendrocytes survive well in the absence of COX activity. More importantly, by in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy, brain lactate concentrations inmutants were increased compared with controls, but were detectable only in mice exposed to volatile anaesthetics. This indicates that aerobic glycolysis products derived from oligodendrocytes are rapidly metabolized within white matter tracts. Becausemyelinated axons can use lactate when energy-deprived 6 , our findings suggest a model in which axon-glia metabolic coupling serves a physiological function. † Present

In cell cultures of glial character derived from perinatal mouse brain adenosine elicits two effects. (a) At submicromolar concentrations I t inhibits the increase in the intracellular level of cyclic AMP caused by j-adrenoceptor agonists. (b) At concentrations above micromolar it increases the level of cyclic AMP in the cultures. These two effects are mediated by two different adenosine receptors present on the outer surface of the cells. This is concluded from the following evidence. (a) Both effects are antagonized by methylxanthines but not by blockage of adenosine uptake or inhibition of phosphodiesterase activity. (b) In both cases activity depends on the integrity of the ribose moiety of the nucleotide. Substituents of the purine system are tolerated comparatively well. (c) The order of potency of adenosine analogues is different for the two effects. We suggest the name A1 receptors for those that mediate the inhibition and A2 for those that mediate the stimulation of cyclic AMP accumulation.

Deficiency of the antioxidant glutathione in brain appears to be connected with several diseases characterized by neuronal loss. To study neuronal glutathione metabolism and metabolic interactions between neurons and astrocytes in this respect, neuron-rich primary cultures and transient cocultures of neurons and astroglial cells were used. Coincubation of neurons with astroglial cells resulted within 24 hr of incubation in a neuronal glutathione content twice that of neurons incubated in the absence of astroglial cells. In cultured neurons, the availability of cysteine limited the cellular level of glutathione. During a 4 hr incubation in a minimal medium lacking all amino acids except cysteine, the amount of neuronal glutathione was doubled. Besides cysteine, also the dipeptides CysGly and gammaGluCys were able to serve as glutathione precursors and caused a concentration-dependent increase in glutathione content. Concentrations giving half-maximal effects were 5, 5, and 200 microM for cysteine, CysGly, and gammaGluCys, respectively. In the transient cocultures, the astroglia-mediated increase in neuronal glutathione was suppressed by acivicin, an inhibitor of the astroglial ectoenzyme gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, which generates CysGly from glutathione. These data suggest the following metabolic interaction in glutathione metabolism of brain cells: the ectoenzyme gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase uses as substrate the glutathione released by astrocytes to generate the dipeptide CysGly that is subsequently used by neurons as precursor for glutathione synthesis.

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Several laboratories have investigated monocarboxylate transport in a variety of cell types. The characterization of the cloned transporter isoforms in a suitable expression system is nevertheless still lacking. H+/monocarboxylate co-transport was therefore investigated in monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1)-expressing Xenopus laevis oocytes by using pH-sensitive microelectrodes and [14C]lactate. Superfusion with lactate resulted in intracellular acidification of MCT1-expressing oocytes, but not in non-injected control oocytes. The basic kinetic properties of lactate transport in MCT1-expressing oocytes were determined by analysing the rates of intracellular pH changes under different conditions. The results were in agreement with the known properties of the transporter, with respect to both the dependence on the lactate concentration and the external pH value. Besides lactate, MCT1 mediated the reversible transport of a wide variety of monocarboxylic acids including pyruvate, D,L-3-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate, alpha-oxoisohexanoate and alpha-oxoisovalerate, but not of dicarboxylic and tricarboxylic acids. The inhibitor alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate bound strongly to the transporter without being translocated, but could be displaced by the addition of lactate. In addition to changes in the intracellular pH, lactate transport also induced deviations from the resting membrane potential.