Inhibitory and potentiating influences of glycine on N-methyl-D- aspartate-evoked dopamine release from cultured rat mesencephalic cells

H Mount, R Quirion, I Chaudieu and P Boksa

Douglas Hospital Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Verdun, Quebec, Canada.

In the presence of 1.2 mM Mg2+, glycine (30-100 microM) inhibited [3H]dopamine ([3H]DA) release stimulated by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), in fetal rat mesencephalic cell cultures. Strychnine (1 microM) blocked the inhibitory effect of 100 microM glycine, indicating an action via strychnine-sensitive inhibitory glycine receptors. A higher concentration of strychnine (100 microM), by itself, inhibited NMDA- evoked [3H]DA release in the presence or absence of Mg2+. Spontaneous [3H]DA release and [3H]DA release stimulated by kainate and quisqualate were unaffected by glycine (less than or equal to 100 microM) or strychnine (less than or equal to 100 microM), indicating that glycine and strychnine modulatory effects are only associated with the NMDA receptor subtype. [3H]DA release evoked by K+ (56 mM) was unaffected by glycine (less than or equal to 100 microM) but was attenuated by a high concentration of strychnine (100 microM). In the absence of exogenous Mg2+, glycine (30-100 microM) potentiated NMDA-evoked [3H]DA release by a strychnine-insensitive mechanism. A selective antagonist of the NMDA- associated glycine receptor, 7-chlorokynurenate (10 microM), attenuated NMDA-evoked [3H]DA release in the absence of Mg2+. The effect of 10 microM 7-chlorokynurenate was overcome by 1 microM glycine. Also, when tested in the presence of 1.2 nM Mg2+ and 1 microM strychnine, 100 microM 7-chlorokynurenate inhibited NMDA-evoked [3H]DA release, and this antagonism was overcome by 30 to 100 microM glycine. These results indicate that two distinct glycine receptors modulate NMDA-stimulated [3H]DA release from mesencephalic cells in culture. Manipulation of extracellular Mg2+ permits the differentiation of a strychnine- sensitive glycine response (inhibition of NMDA-evoked [3H]DA release) from a strychnine-insensitive glycine response (potentiation of NMDA- evoked [3H]DA release). It is suggested that voltage-dependent Mg2+ blockade of the NMDA response may allow for the expression of these opposing effects of glycine.

Volume 39, Issue 2, pp. 205-210, 02/01/1991
Copyright © 1991 by American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics