ABSTRACT
Eight-month old WAG/Rij rats, which developed spontaneous occurring absence seizures, showed a reduced function of mGlu1 metabotropic glutamate receptors in the thalamus, as assessed by in vivo measurements of DHPG-stimulated polyphosphoinositide hydrolysis, in the presence of the mGlu5 antagonist MPEP as compared to age-matched non-epileptic control rats. These symptomatic 8-month old WAG/Rij rats also showed lower levels of thalamic mGlu1α receptors than age-matched controls and 2-month old (pre-symptomatic) WAG/Rij rats, as detected by immunoblotting. Immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization analysis indicated that the reduced expression of mGlu1 receptors found in symptomatic WAG/Rij rats was confined to an area of the thalamus that excluded the ventroposterolateral nucleus. No mGlu1 receptor mRNA was detected in the reticular thalamic nucleus. Pharmacological manipulation of mGlu1 receptors had a strong impact on absence seizures in WAG/Rij rats. Systemic treatment with the mGlu1 receptor enhancer SYN119, corresponding to compound RO0711401, reduced spontaneous spike and wave discharges spike-wave discharges (SWDs) in epileptic rats. Subcutaneous doses of 10 mg/kg of SYN119 only reduced the incidence of SWDs, whereas higher doses (30 mg/kg) also reduced the mean duration of SWDs. In contrast, treatment with the non-competitive mGlu1 receptor antagonist, JNJ16259685 (2.5 and 5 mg/kg, i.p.) increased the incidence of SWDs. These data suggest that absence epilepsy might be associated with a reduction of mGlu1 receptors in the thalamus, and that compounds that amplify the activity of mGlu1 receptors might be developed as novel anti-absence drugs. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Trends in neuropharmacology: in memory of Erminio Costa'.
Subject(s)
Epilepsy, Absence/metabolism , Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate/metabolism , Allosteric Regulation , Animals , Ciprofloxacin/analogs & derivatives , Ciprofloxacin/pharmacology , Disease Models, Animal , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Electroencephalography/drug effects , Epilepsy, Absence/drug therapy , Epilepsy, Absence/genetics , Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists/pharmacology , Male , Motor Activity/drug effects , Motor Activity/physiology , Nucleic Acid Synthesis Inhibitors/pharmacology , Quinolines/pharmacology , RNA, Messenger/metabolism , Rats , Rats, Inbred ACI , Rats, Inbred Strains , Receptors, Metabotropic Glutamate/genetics , Signal Transduction/drug effects , Thalamic Nuclei/metabolism , Thalamic Nuclei/physiopathology , Thalamus/metabolism , Thalamus/physiopathologyABSTRACT
The interaction between 5-hydroxytryptamine(2A) (5-HT(2A)) serotonin receptors and metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) 2/3 receptors underlies the antipsychotic activity of mGlu2/3 receptor agonists in experimental animals and humans. The molecular nature of this interaction is only partially known. We here report for the first time that pharmacological activation of mGlu2/3 receptors attenuates the stimulation of polyphosphoinositide (PI) hydrolysis mediated by 5-HT(2A) receptors in the frontal cortex of living mice. Mice were injected intracerebroventricularly with [myo-(3)H]inositol and treated with drugs 1 h after a pretreatment with lithium, which blocks the conversion of inositol monophosphate into free inositol. Systemic injection of the mGlu2/3 receptor agonist (-)-2-oxa-4-aminocyclo[3.1.0]hexane-4,6-dicarboxylic acid (LY379268) inhibited the stimulation of PI hydrolysis induced by the hallucinogenic 5-HT(2A) receptor agonist (+/-)-1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane (DOI) without affecting the stimulation by mGlu1/5 or muscarinic receptors. The action of LY379268 was prevented by the preferential mGlu2/3 receptor antagonist (2S,1'S,2'S)-2-(9-xanthylmethyl)-2-(2'-carboxycyclopropyl)glycine (LY341495). N-(4'-cyano-biphenyl-3-yl)-N-(3-pyridinylmethyl)-ethanesulfonamide hydrochloride (LY566332), a selective mGlu2 receptor enhancer, also reduced DOI-stimulated PI hydrolysis when combined with subthreshold doses of LY379268. Systemic LY379268 inhibited DOI-stimulated PI hydrolysis in mice lacking either mGlu2 or mGlu3 receptors but was inactive in double mGlu2/mGlu3 receptor knockout mice, suggesting that both mGlu2 and mGlu3 receptors interact with 5-HT(2A) receptors. Surprisingly, contrasting results were obtained in cortical slice preparations, where LY379268 amplified both DOI- and 3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine-stimulated PI hydrolysis. Amplification was abrogated by the mGlu5 receptor antagonist 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)pyridine, suggesting that experiments in brain slices are biased by an additional component of receptor-stimulated PI hydrolysis. This highlights the importance of in vivo models for the study of the interaction between 5-HT(2A) and mGlu2/3 receptors.