Glutamate significantly increased intracellular calcium concentration, enhanced 45Ca2+ entry, and activated Na+/Ca 2 § exchanger in synaptosomes from rat cerebral cortex. Preincubation with GMI ganglioside reduced the glutamate-induced increase in intracellular calcium and 45Ca2+ entry. Gangliosides and glutamate stimulated Na+/Ca 2 § exchanger showing additive effects.Key Words: GM 1 ganglioside," glutamate; calcium; cerebral cortex synaptosomes Neuronal damage in ischemia, brain trauma, and some neurological diseases is largely determined by toxic effects of high concentrations of glutamate released into the intercellular space [2,3,12]. Excitotoxin-induced disturbance in intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) homeostasis is considered to be the major cause of neuronal death under these conditions [4].Activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors triggering this process is a necessary but not sufficient condition for sustained elevation of [Ca:+]i. An important role in the development of pathological processes initiated by excitotoxins is played by activation of free radical reactions [1,13] and other processes stimulating Ca 2+ entry and inactivating the system stabilizing calcium homeostasis.Gangliosides, the most complex animal glicosphingolipids, improve viability of cultured nervous cells exposed to glutamate [3,6] and significantly decrease [Ca 2+] ~, which seems to underlie their neuroprotective activity [12]. However, the mechanism of this effect remains unclear. We found no reports on the effects of gangliosides on glutamate-induced activation of Ca 2+ entry or activity of Na+/Ca 2+ exchanger.Our aim was to study the mechanism of stabilizing effect of gangliosides on Ca 2+ homeostasis dis-
MATERIALS AND METHODSSynaptosomes isolated from the brain of male Wistar rats (150-180 g) as described elsewhere [9] were resuspended in buffer A containing (in mM): 135 NaC1, 1.2 MgSO4, 2.0 KC1. 10 glucose, and 20 tris-HC1 (pH=7.4), centrifuged at 15,000g for 15 min, and resuspended again in buffer A (4-5 mg/ml protein concentration).[Ca2+]i was measured with Fura-2M (Sigma), a fluorescent calcium probe. Synaptosomes (1 ml) were mixed with 1 ml buffer A containing 0.5% BSA (flee from fatty acids) and 8 gM Fura-2M dissolved in 0.4% DMSO and incubated for 40 min at 30~ [16]. Preincubation with 50 nM GM~ ganglioside was performed simultaneously with Fura-2M loading, which was stopped by adding 20-fold volume of buffer A followed by 15-min centrifugation at 12,000g. The sediment was resuspended in MgSQ-free buffer B containing (in mM): 135 NaC1. 2.0 KC1, 1.0 CaC 89 10 glucose. and 20 tris-HC1 (pH=7.4) and incubated with glutamate and other test compounds for 15 min at 30~ Fluorescence was measured on a MPF-2A fluorimeter (Hitachi) at 340 and 380 nm excitation and 510 nm 9 0007-4888/00/0001-36525.00