Exposure to D2-like dopamine receptor agonists inhibits swimming in Daphnia magna.

Daphnia are freshwater crustaceans that have been used for decades in ecotoxicology research. Despite the important role that Daphnia have played in environmental toxicology studies, very little is known about the neurobiology of Daphnia. Although many studies have investigated the swimming movements of these "water fleas", few studies have examined the underlying neurochemical basis for these movements. To characterize the locomotor effect of drugs in Daphnia, a two-dimensional video imaging tool was developed and animal tracking was performed with freely available software, CTRAX. Due to the central role that dopamine plays in the movement of animals, we sought to determine the role of dopamine receptor signaling in Daphnia movement by characterizing the effect of ten drugs that are agonists or antagonists of dopamine receptors. At 1, 2, and 6h of treatment with a 10µM drug, several dopamine receptor agonists with documented effects on the D2-like class of receptors decreased the movement. Further, we determined behavioral inhibition values (IC50) at 1h of treatment for (1R,3S)-1-(aminomethyl)-3-phenyl-3,4-dihydro-1H-isochromene-5,6-diol (A68930) to be 1.4µM and for bromocriptine to be 6.6µM. This study describes a new method to study Daphnia swimming and establishes this organism as a useful model for studies of dopaminergic signaling. Specifically, this study shows that a dopamine receptor signaling pathway, mediated by putative D2-like receptors, is involved in the control of Daphnia swimming behavior. Due to its ease of use and its rich motor program we propose that Daphnia should be considered for future studies of dopamine neuron toxicity and protection.

Stereoselective inhibition of serotonin transporters by antimalarial compounds.

The serotonin (5-HT) transporter (SERT) is an integral membrane protein that functions to reuptake 5-HT released into the synapse following neurotransmission. This role serves an important regulatory mechanism in neuronal homeostasis. Previous studies have demonstrated that several clinically important antimalarial compounds inhibit serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) reuptake. In this study, we examined the details of antimalarial inhibition of 5-HT transport in both Drosophila (dSERT) and human SERT (hSERT) using electrophysiologic, biochemical and computational approaches. We found that the cinchona alkaloids quinidine and cinchonine, which have identical stereochemistry about carbons 8 and 9, exhibited the greatest inhibition of dSERT and hSERT transporter function whereas quinine and cinchonidine, enantiomers of quinidine and cinchonine, respectively, were weaker inhibitors of dSERT and hSERT. Furthermore, SERT mutations known to decrease the binding affinity of many antidepressants affected the cinchona alkaloids in a stereo-specific manner where the similar inhibitory profiles for quinine and cinchonidine (8S,9R) were distinct from quinidine and cinchonine (8R,9S). Small molecule docking studies with hSERT homology models predict that quinine and cinchonidine bind to the central 5-HT binding site (S1) whereas quinidine and cinchonine bind to the S2 site. Taken together, the data presented here support binding of cinchona alkaloids to two different sites on SERT defined by their stereochemistry which implies separate modes of transporter inhibition. Notably, the most potent antimalarial inhibitors of SERT appear to preferentially bind to the S2 site. Our findings provide important insight related to how this class of drugs can modulate the serotonergic system as well as identify compounds that may discriminate between the S1 and S2 binding sites and serve as lead compounds for novel SERT inhibitors.

Oxygen glucose deprivation in rat hippocampal slice cultures results in alterations in carnitine homeostasis and mitochondrial dysfunction.

Mitochondrial dysfunction characterized by depolarization of mitochondrial membranes and the initiation of mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis are pathological responses to hypoxia-ischemia (HI) in the neonatal brain. Carnitine metabolism directly supports mitochondrial metabolism by shuttling long chain fatty acids across the inner mitochondrial membrane for beta-oxidation. Our previous studies have shown that HI disrupts carnitine homeostasis in neonatal rats and that L-carnitine can be neuroprotective. Thus, this study was undertaken to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which HI alters carnitine metabolism and to begin to elucidate the mechanism underlying the neuroprotective effect of L-carnitine (LCAR) supplementation. Utilizing neonatal rat hippocampal slice cultures we found that oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) decreased the levels of free carnitines (FC) and increased the acylcarnitine (AC): FC ratio. These changes in carnitine homeostasis correlated with decreases in the protein levels of carnitine palmitoyl transferase (CPT) 1 and 2. LCAR supplementation prevented the decrease in CPT1 and CPT2, enhanced both FC and the AC∶FC ratio and increased slice culture metabolic viability, the mitochondrial membrane potential prior to OGD and prevented the subsequent loss of neurons during later stages of reperfusion through a reduction in apoptotic cell death. Finally, we found that LCAR supplementation preserved the structural integrity and synaptic transmission within the hippocampus after OGD. Thus, we conclude that LCAR supplementation preserves the key enzymes responsible for maintaining carnitine homeostasis and preserves both cell viability and synaptic transmission after OGD.

Characterization of a functional bacterial homologue of sodium-dependent neurotransmitter transporters.

The tnaT gene of Symbiobacterium thermophilum encodes a protein homologous to sodium-dependent neurotransmitter transporters. Expression of the tnaT gene product in Escherichia coli conferred the ability to accumulate tryptophan from the medium and the ability to grow on tryptophan as a sole source of carbon. Transport was Na(+)-dependent and highly selective. The K(m) for tryptophan was approximately 145 nm, and tryptophan transport was unchanged in the presence of 100 microM concentrations of other amino acids. Tryptamine and serotonin were weak inhibitors with K(I) values of 200 and 440 microM, respectively. By using a T7 promoter-based system, TnaT with an N-terminal His(6) tag was expressed at high levels in the membrane and was purified to near-homogeneity in high yield.