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Developmental changes in high-affinity uptake of GABA by cultured neurons

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Abstract

High-affinity uptake of [3H]γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) was studied in cultures of neonatal rat cortical neurons grown on pre-formed monolayers of non-neuronal (glial) cells. Both the maximum rate (V max) and, to a smaller extent, theK m of [3H]GABA uptake increased with time. In addition, in parallel with these changes, 2,4-diaminobutyric acid and cis-3-aminocyclohexane-1-carboxylic acid (ACHC), compounds which are considered typical substrate/inhibitors of GABA uptake in neurons, became progressively stronger inhibitors of [3H]GABA uptake. Consequently, the present results may mean that the studies using uptake, of [3H]GABA, [3H]ACHC, or [3H]DABA as a specific marker for GABAergic neurons differentiating during the ontogenetic development of the central nervous system may have to be interpreted with caution.

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Author notes

  1. Vladimir J. Balcar

    Present address: Department of Anatomy, University of Sydney, 2006, Sydney, N. S. W., Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological Research Laboratories, CIBA-GEIGY Ltd., CH-4002, Basel, Switzerland

    Vladimir J. Balcar, Kathleen L. Hauser & Henri Demieville

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  1. Vladimir J. Balcar
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  2. Kathleen L. Hauser
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Balcar, V.J., Hauser, K.L. & Demieville, H. Developmental changes in high-affinity uptake of GABA by cultured neurons. Neurochem Res 14, 229–233 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00971315

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