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Demonstration of Neuron-Glia Transfer of Precursors for Gaba Biosynthesis in a Co-Culture System of Dissociated Mouse Cerebral Cortex

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An Erratum to this article was published on 02 October 2009

Abstract

Co-cultures of neurons and astrocytes were prepared from dissociated embryonic mouse cerebral cortex and cultured for 7 days. To investigate if these cultures may serve as a functional model system to study neuron-glia interaction with regard to GABA biosynthesis, the cells were incubated either in media containing [U-13C]glutamine (0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 mM) or 1 mM acetate plus 2.5 mM glucose plus 1 mM lactate. In the latter case one of the 3 substrates was uniformly 13C labeled. Cellular contents and 13C labeling of glutamate, GABA, aspartate and glutamine were determined in the cells after an incubation period of 2.5 h. The GABA biosynthetic machinery exhibited the expected complexity with regard to metabolic compartmentation and involvement of TCA cycle activity as seen in other culture systems containing GABAergic neurons. Metabolism of acetate clearly demonstrated glial synthesis of glutamine and its transfer to the neuronal compartment. It is concluded that this co-culture system serves as a reliable model in which functional and pharmacological aspects of GABA biosynthesis can be investigated.

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Acknowledgments

The expert secretarial assistance of Ms Hanne Danø and the skilful technical assistance of Ms Ann Lene Vigh are highly appreciated. The experimental work has been supported by grants from the Danish Medical Research Council (22-04-0314 and 271-07-0267) and the Lundbeck, Hørslev and Novo Nordisk Foundations. A travel grant to RL from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Capes is coordially acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 2, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Renata Leke, Lasse K. Bak, Arne Schousboe & Helle S. Waagepetersen

  2. Department of Biochemistry, ICBS, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Renata Leke

Authors
  1. Renata Leke
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  2. Lasse K. Bak
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  3. Arne Schousboe
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  4. Helle S. Waagepetersen
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Correspondence to Arne Schousboe.

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Special issue article in honor of Dr. Anna Maria Giuffrida-Stella.

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11064-009-0062-1

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Leke, R., Bak, L.K., Schousboe, A. et al. Demonstration of Neuron-Glia Transfer of Precursors for Gaba Biosynthesis in a Co-Culture System of Dissociated Mouse Cerebral Cortex. Neurochem Res 33, 2629–2635 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-008-9814-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-008-9814-6

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