NO donors transform neuronal response to glutamate
D'iakonova, T.L.
Rossiiskii Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal Imeni I.M. Sechenova 84(10): 1152-1159
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0869-8139 PMID: 10097284 Document Number: 494961
Electrophysiological experiments on three identified neurones were performed. Two NO donors, sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and sodium nitrite, as well as NO synthase inhibitor, were used. In each neurone, bath application of glutamate caused hyperpolarization and suppression of firing. Combined application of glutamate and SNP resulted in that the same cells responded to identical glutamate solutions with depolarization and excitation. Application of N-monomethyl-L-arginin (NMMA) arrested the glutamate-induced firing and depolarization. The findings suggest involvement of NO in the mechanism of transformation of glutamate-induced inhibition into excitation and a mediation of the latter by the N-methyl-D-aspartate-like receptors in the Helix brain.