Abstract
The pharmacological properties of two recombinant human N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor subtypes, comprising either NR1a/NR2A or NR1a/NR2B subunits permanently transfected into mouse L(tk-) cells, have been compared using whole-cell voltage-clamp electrophysiology. Glutamate was a full agonist at both receptors, having a modestly but statistically significant (p < 0.002) higher affinity for the NR2B- than the NR2A-containing receptor (microscopic Kd [mKd] = 0.76 and 0.43 microM, respectively). In comparison to glutamate, NMDA, quinolinic acid, and cis-2,3-piperidinedicarboxylic acid were partial agonists at both receptor subtypes. Maximal amplitude currents resulted when glutamate-site agonists were combined with either glycine or D-serine; both of these amino acids were, therefore, defined as full agonists at the glycine site. Glycine had an approximately 10-fold higher affinity (p < 0.0001) for NR2B- than for NR2A-containing receptors (mKd = 0.057 and 0.53 microM, respectively). D-Cycloserine, (+)-(3R)-3-amino-1-hydroxypyrrolidin-2-one, (+)-cis-(4R)-methyl-(3R)-amino-1-hydroxypyrrolidin-2-one, and 1-aminocyclobutanecarboxylic acid also had higher affinities for the NR2B-containing receptor but were partial agonists, at both receptor subtypes, unlike glycine. Agonist-evoked whole-cell currents were antagonized by D-(-)-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid, cis-4-(phosphonomethyl)piperidine-2-carboxylic acid, and 3-((R)-2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl)-propyl-1-phosphonic acid, all of which had slightly, but statistically significant, higher affinities (2.2-, 2.8-, and 5.5-fold, respectively) for the NR2A-containing receptor. Responses were also antagonized by the glycine-site antagonists 7-chlorokynurenic acid, 7-chloro-4-hydroxy-3-(3-phenoxy)phenylquinolin-2-(1H)-one, and (+/=)-4-(trans)-2-carboxy-5,7-dichloro-4-phenylaminocarbonylamino- 1,2,3,4- tetrahydroquinoline. The atypical NMDA antagonist ifenprodil showed the largest separation in functional affinity (IC50 values, 0.6 and 175 microM at NR2B- and NR2A-containing receptors, respectively). These experiments demonstrate the usefulness of permanently transfected L(tk-) cells for electrophysiological studies of recombinant NMDA receptor function and provide the first detailed functional pharmacological analysis of human NMDA receptor subtypes.
MolPharm articles become freely available 12 months after publication, and remain freely available for 5 years.Non-open access articles that fall outside this five year window are available only to institutional subscribers and current ASPET members, or through the article purchase feature at the bottom of the page.
|