Glial cells express a bewildering array of neurotransmitter receptors. To illustrate the complexity of expression, we have assayed non-glutamatergic neurotransmitter receptor mRNA in isolated rat optic nerve, a preparation devoid of neurons and neuronal synapses and from which relatively pure "glial" RNA can be isolated. Of the 44 receptor subunits examined which span the GABA-A, nicotinic, adreno-and glycine receptor families, over three quarters were robustly expressed in this mixed population of white matter glial cells, with several expressed at higher levels than found in control whole brain RNA. In addition to the complexity of glial receptor expression, numerous neurotransmitter release mechanisms have been identified. We have focused on glutamate release from astrocytes, which can occur via at least seven distinct pathways and which is implicated in excitotoxic injury of neurons and glia. Recent findings suggesting that non-glutamatergic receptors can also mediate acute glial injury are also discussed.3
ATP has high- and low-affinity effects on the sodium pump and other P-type ATPases. We have approached this question by using 2',3'-O-(trinitrophenyl)-8-azidoadenosine 5'-diphosphate (TNP-8N(3)-ADP) to photoinactivate and label Na,K-ATPase, both in its native state and after covalent FITC block of its high-affinity ATP site. With the native enzyme, the photoinactivation rate constant increases hyperbolically with a K(D(TNP-8N)3(-)(ADP)) of 0.11 microM; TNP-ATP and ATP protect the site with high affinities. The inactivation does not require Na(+), but K(+) inhibits with a K(K)' of 12 microM; Na(+) reverses this effect, with a K(Na) of 0.17 mM. This pattern suggests that Na(+) and K(+) are binding at sites in their "intracellular" conformation. It was known that FITC did not abolish the reverse phosphorylation by P(i), or the K(+)-phosphatase activity, and that TNP-8N(3)-ADP could subsequently photoinactivate the latter with >100-fold lower affinity; in that case, the cation sites acted as if facing outward [Ward, D. G., and Cavieres, J. D. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 14277-14284, 33759-33765]. Native and FITC-modified enzymes have now been photolabeled with TNP-8N(3)-[alpha-(32)P]ADP and alpha-chain soluble tryptic peptides separated by reverse-phase HPLC. With native Na,K-ATPase, three labeled peaks lead to the unique sequence alpha-(470)Ile-Val-Glu-Ile-Pro-Phe-Asn-Ser-Thr-Asn-X-Tyr-Gln-Leu-Ser-Ile-His-Lys(487), the dropped residue being alphaLys480. With the FITC enzyme, instead, two independent labeling and purification cycles return the sequence alpha-(721)Ala-Asp-Ile-Gly-Val-Ala-Met-Gly-Ile-Ala-Gly-Ser-Asp-Val-Ser-Lys(736). These results suggest that Na,K-ATPase also has a low-affinity nucleotide binding region, one that is under distinctive allosteric control by Na(+) and K(+). Moreover, the cation effects seem compatible with a slow, passive Na(+)/K(+) carrier behavior of the FITC-modified sodium pump.
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