Effects of bile duct ligation on the inhibitory control of supraoptic vasopressin neurons.

Dilutional hyponatremia due to increased plasma arginine vasopressin (AVP) is associated with liver cirrhosis. However, plasma AVP remains elevated despite progressive hypoosmolality. This study investigated changes to inhibitory control of supraoptic nucleus (SON) AVP neurons during liver cirrhosis. Experiments were conducted with adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. Bile duct ligation was used as a model of chronic liver cirrhosis. An adeno-associated virus containing a construct with an AVP promoter and either green fluorescent protein (GFP) or a ratiometric chloride indicator, ClopHensorN, was bilaterally injected into the SON of rats. After 2 weeks, rats received either BDL or sham surgery, and liver cirrhosis was allowed to develop for 4 weeks. In vitro, loose patch recordings of action potentials were obtained from GFP-labeled and unlabeled SON neurons in response to a brief focal application of the GABAA agonist muscimol (100 µM). Changes to intracellular chloride ([Cl]i) following muscimol application were determined by changes to the fluorescence ratio of ClopHensorN. The contribution of cation chloride cotransporters NKCC1 and KCC2 to changes in intracellular chloride was investigated using their respective antagonists, bumetanide (BU, 10 µM) and VU0240551 (10 µM). Plasma osmolality and hematocrit were measured as a marker of dilutional hyponatremia. The results showed reduced or absent GABAA -mediated inhibition in a greater proportion of AVP neurons from BDL rats as compared to sham rats (100% inhibition in sham vs. 47% in BDL, p = .001). Muscimol application was associated with increased [Cl]i in most cells from BDL as compared to cells from sham rats (χ2 = 30.24, p < .001). NKCC1 contributed to the impaired inhibition observed in BDL rats (p < .001 BDL - BU vs. BDL + BU). The results show that impaired inhibition of SON AVP neurons and increased intracellular chloride contribute to the sustained dilutional hyponatremia in liver cirrhosis.

Pharmacological evaluation of lateral habenula and rostromedial tegmental nucleus in the expression of ethanol-induced place preference.

Although ethanol administration produces a range of physiological effects, the rewarding aspect associated with its consumption is a major contributory factor to its abuse liability. Recently, lateral habenula (LHb) has been shown to be engaged by both rewarding and aversive stimuli. Its major glutamatergic output, the fasciculus retroflexus, projects to the rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg) and controls the activity of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) dopaminergic system to promote reward circuitry. While several attempts have been made to understand the relationship between LHb and addiction, there is still a lack of knowledge in relation to ethanol addiction. In the present study, by pharmacologically exacerbating or inhibiting the LHb or RMTg neuronal activity during a post-conditioning test, we investigated the role of LHb-RMTg fasciculus retroflexus in ethanol-induced reward behavior using the conditioned place preference (CPP) test. We found that activation of LHb glutamatergic system by intra-LHb administration of l-trans-2,4-pyrrolidine dicarboxylate (PDC) (glutamate transporter inhibitor) significantly decreased CPP score; on the contrary, lamotrigine (inhibits glutamate release) significantly increased CPP score and showed a rewarding effect in CPP. Instead, intra-RMTg administration of muscimol (GABAA receptor agonist) significantly increased CPP score, whereas bicuculline (GABAA antagonist) treatment decreased CPP score. In immunohistochemistry, we found that PDC administration significantly decreased, whereas lamotrigine treatment significantly increased tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity (TH-ir) in VTA and nucleus accumbens (NAc). Furthermore, while intra-RMTg administration of muscimol increased, the bicuculline treatment significantly decreased the TH-ir in VTA and NAc. Together, our behavioral and immunohistochemical results signify the role of LHb and RMTg in the expression of ethanol-conditioned reward behavior.

Df(h22q11)/+ mouse model exhibits reduced binding levels of GABAA receptors and structural and functional dysregulation in the inhibitory and excitatory networks of hippocampus.

The 22q11.2 hemizygous deletion confers high risk for multiple neurodevelopmental disorders. Inhibitory signaling, largely regulated through GABAA receptors, is suggested to serve a multitude of brain functions that are disrupted in the 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. We investigated the putative deficit of GABAA receptors and the potential substrates contributing to the inhibitory and excitatory dysregulations in hippocampal networks of the Df(h22q11)/+ mouse model of the 22q11.2 hemizygous deletion. The Df(h22q11)/+ mice exhibited impairments in several hippocampus-related functional domains, represented by impaired spatial memory and sensory gating functions. Autoradiography using the [3H]muscimol tracer revealed a significant reduction in GABAA receptor binding in the CA1 and CA3 subregions, together with a loss of GAD67+ interneurons in CA1 of Df(h22q11)/+ mice. Furthermore, electrophysiology recordings exhibited significantly higher neuronal activity in CA3, in response to the GABAA receptor antagonist, bicuculline, as compared with wild type mice. Density and volume of dendritic spines in pyramidal neurons were reduced and Sholl analysis also showed a reduction in the complexity of basal dendritic tree in CA1 and CA3 subregions of Df(h22q11)/+ mice. Overall, our findings demonstrate that hemizygous deletion in the 22q11.2 locus leads to dysregulations in the inhibitory circuits, involving reduced binding levels of GABAA receptors, in addition to functional and structural modulations of the excitatory networks of hippocampus.

Competitive chrodrimanin B interactions with rat brain GABAA receptors revealed by radioligand binding assays.

Meroterpenoid compounds chrodrimanins produced by Talaromyces sp. YO-2 have been shown to act as competitive antagonists of silkworm larval GABAA receptors using electrophysiology, yet no further evidence has been provided to support such an action. We have investigated the actions of chrodrimanin B on rat brain GABAA receptors by binding assays with non-competitive ligand of GABAA receptors [3H]EBOB and competitive ligands [3H]gabazine and [3H]muscimol. Chrodrimanin B did not significantly affect the binding of [3H]EBOB while reducing the binding of [3H]gabazine and [3H]muscimol to the rat membrane preparations. Chrodrimanin B increased the dissociation constant Kd of [3H]gabazine and [3H]muscimol without significantly affecting the maximum binding, pointing to competitive interactions of chrodrimanin B with rat GABAA receptors in support of our previous observation that the compound acts as a competitive antagonist on the silkworm larval GABA receptor.

Prioritization of social information by the basolateral amygdala in rats.

The amygdala is a collection of nuclei that support adaptive social behavior and are implicated in disorders such as autism. The basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA), a main subdivision of the amygdala, influences fear responses, motivated behavior, and memory of emotional events via its communication with other amygdalar nuclei and with other brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex, striatum, and hippocampus. The specific role of the BLA in responses to social stimuli is less clear. The present study of female rats investigated the role of the BLA in responding to socially-relevant information by asking how inactivation of the BLA with bilateral infusions of the GABA receptor agonist muscimol would affect spontaneous exploration of wood blocks scented either with conspecific male or female urine or with nonsocial odorants. Conspecific urine samples were used because urine conveys information about sex, health, social status, and reproductive state in rodents. The results revealed that BLA inactivation reduced female rats' spontaneous preference for social odors over nonsocial odors, specifically for female urine. However, BLA inactivation did not generally impair rats' ability to distinguish two odors from the same category (e.g., urine odors from two different male rats). The results indicate that the BLA is important for responding to salience of social stimuli but not for discriminating between different individuals, a result that has important implications for amygdalar modulation of downstream attention, motivation, and memory processes for social stimuli.

GABAergic and glutamatergic effects on nigrostriatal and mesolimbic dopamine release in the rat.

In this review, a series of experiments is presented, in which γ-amino butyric acid (GABA)ergic and glutamatergic effects on dopamine function in the rat nigrostriatal and mesolimbic system was systematically assessed after pharmacological challenge with GABAA receptor (R) and and N-methyl d-aspartate (NMDA)R agonists and antagonists. In these studies, [123I]iodobenzamide binding to the D2/3R was mesured in nucleus accumbens (NAC), caudateputamen (CP), substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area (SN/VTA), frontal (FC), motor (MC) and parietal cortex (PC) as well as anterior (aHIPP) and posterior hippocampus (pHIPP) with small animal SPECT in baseline and after injection of either the GABAAR agonist muscimol (1 mg/kg), the GABAAR antagonist bicuculline (1 mg/kg), the NMDAR agonist d-cycloserine (20 mg/kg) or the NMDAR antagonist amantadine (40 mg/kg). Muscimol reduced D2/3R binding in NAC, CP, SN/VTA, THAL and pHIPP, while, after amantadine, decreases were confined to NAC, CP and THAL. In contrast, d-cycloserine elevated D2/3R binding in NAC, SN/VTA, THAL, frontal cortex, motor cortex, PC, aHIPP and pHIPP, while, after bicuculline, increases were confined to CP and THAL. Taken together, similar actions on regional dopamine levels were exterted by the GABAAR agonist and the NMDAR antagonist on the one side and by the GABAAR antagonist and the NMDAR agonist on the other, with agonistic action, however, affecting more brain regions. Thereby, network analysis suggests different roles of GABAARs and NMDARs in the mediation of nigrostriatal, nigrothalamocortical and mesolimbocortical dopamine function.

Ibotenic Acid Biosynthesis in the Fly Agaric Is Initiated by Glutamate Hydroxylation.

The fly agaric, Amanita muscaria, is widely known for its content of the psychoactive metabolites ibotenic acid and muscimol. However, their biosynthetic pathway and the respective enzymes are entirely unknown. 50 years ago, the biosynthesis was hypothesized to start with 3-hydroxyglutamate. Here, we build on this hypothesis by the identification and recombinant production of a glutamate hydroxylase from A. muscaria. The hydroxylase gene is surrounded by six further biosynthetic genes, which we link to the production of ibotenic acid and muscimol using recent genomic and transcriptomic data. Our results pinpoint the genetic basis for ibotenic acid formation and thus provide new insights into a decades-old question concerning a centuries-old drug.

Multiple functional neurosteroid binding sites on GABAA receptors.

Neurosteroids are endogenous modulators of neuronal excitability and nervous system development and are being developed as anesthetic agents and treatments for psychiatric diseases. While gamma amino-butyric acid Type A (GABAA) receptors are the primary molecular targets of neurosteroid action, the structural details of neurosteroid binding to these proteins remain ill defined. We synthesized neurosteroid analogue photolabeling reagents in which the photolabeling groups were placed at three positions around the neurosteroid ring structure, enabling identification of binding sites and mapping of neurosteroid orientation within these sites. Using middle-down mass spectrometry (MS), we identified three clusters of photolabeled residues representing three distinct neurosteroid binding sites in the human α1ß3 GABAA receptor. Novel intrasubunit binding sites were identified within the transmembrane helical bundles of both the α1 (labeled residues α1-N408, Y415) and ß3 (labeled residue ß3-Y442) subunits, adjacent to the extracellular domains (ECDs). An intersubunit site (labeled residues ß3-L294 and G308) in the interface between the ß3(+) and α1(-) subunits of the GABAA receptor pentamer was also identified. Computational docking studies of neurosteroid to the three sites predicted critical residues contributing to neurosteroid interaction with the GABAA receptors. Electrophysiological studies of receptors with mutations based on these predictions (α1-V227W, N408A/Y411F, and Q242L) indicate that both the α1 intrasubunit and ß3-α1 intersubunit sites are critical for neurosteroid action.

Extrasynaptic δ-GABAA receptors are high-affinity muscimol receptors.

Muscimol, the major psychoactive ingredient in the mushroom Amanita muscaria, has been regarded as a universal non-selective GABA-site agonist. Deletion of the GABAA receptor (GABAA R) δ subunit in mice (δKO) leads to a drastic reduction in high-affinity muscimol binding in brain sections and to a lower behavioral sensitivity to muscimol than their wild type counterparts. Here, we use forebrain and cerebellar brain homogenates from WT and δKO mice to show that deletion of the δ subunit leads to a > 50% loss of high-affinity 5 nM [3 H]muscimol-binding sites despite the relatively low abundance of δ-containing GABAA Rs (δ-GABAA R) in the brain. By subtracting residual high-affinity binding in δKO mice and measuring the slow association and dissociation rates we show that native δ-GABAA Rs in WT mice exhibit high-affinity [3 H]muscimol-binding sites (KD ~1.6 nM on α4ßδ receptors in the forebrain and ~1 nM on α6ßδ receptors in the cerebellum at 22°C). Co-expression of the δ subunit with α6 and ß2 or ß3 in recombinant (HEK 293) expression leads to the appearance of a slowly dissociating [3 H]muscimol component. In addition, we compared muscimol currents in recombinant α4ß3δ and α4ß3 receptors and show that δ subunit co-expression leads to highly muscimol-sensitive currents with an estimated EC50 of around 1-2 nM and slow deactivation kinetics. These data indicate that δ subunit incorporation leads to a dramatic increase in GABAA R muscimol sensitivity. We conclude that biochemical and behavioral low-dose muscimol selectivity for δ-subunit-containing receptors is a result of low nanomolar-binding affinity on δ-GABAA Rs.

The Synthesis and Evaluation of Fluoro-, Trifluoromethyl-, and Iodomuscimols as GABA Agonists.

Halogenated analogues of the neurotoxic alkaloid muscimol were prepared with fluorine, iodine or trifluoromethyl at the 4 position of the isoxazole ring system. These compounds were investigated as agonists for GABAA receptors. Only the C-4 fluorine-containing analogue proved to be an active compound in these assays. The fluoro analogue was less active than muscimol, however it showed differential activity between synaptic (α1 ß2 γ2 ) and extrasynaptic (α4 ß2 γ) GABAA receptors, having a similar potency to the neurotransmitter GABA for the extrasynaptic (α4 ß2 γ) receptor.

Prelimbic cortex extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 activation is required for memory retrieval of long-term inhibitory avoidance.

Neural mechanism underlying memory retrieval has been extensively studied in the hippocampus and amygdala. However, little is known about the role of medial prefrontal cortex in long-term memory retrieval. We evaluate this issue in one-trial step-through inhibitory avoidance (IA) paradigm. Our results showed that, 1) inactivation of mPFC by local infusion of GABAA-receptor agonist muscimol caused severe deficits in retrieval of 1-day and 7-day but had no effects on 2-h inhibitory avoidance memory; 2) the protein level of phosphorylated-ERK1/2 in mPFC were significantly increased following retrieval of 1-day and 7-day IA memory, so did the numbers of phosphorylated-ERK (pERK) and phosphorylated-CREB (pCREB) labeled neurons; 3) intra-mPFC infusion of ERK kinase inhibitor PD98095 significantly reduced phosphorylated ERK1/2 levels and phosphorylated-ERK1/2 and phosphorylated-CREB labeled cells, and severely impaired retrieval of 7-day IA memory when the drugs were administrated 30min prior to test. The present study provides evidence that retrieval of long-lasting memory for inhibitory avoidance requires mPFC and involves the ERK-CREB signaling cascade.

GABA Australis, some reflections on the history of GABA receptor research in Australia.

Research on GABA receptors has a long history in Australia dating from 1958 with David Curtis and his colleagues in Canberra. This review traces many of the advances made in Australia guided by highly cited publications and some obscure ones. It covers the discovery of key chemicals with which to investigate GABA receptor function including bicuculline, muscimol, phaclofen, THIP and (+)-CAMP. Also described are findings relevant to the involvement of mutant GABA receptors in inherited epilepsy. The modulation of GABA receptors by a bewildering range of chemicals, especially by flavonoids and terpenoids, is discussed.

Hippocampal-dependent memory in the plus-maze discriminative avoidance task: The role of spatial cues and CA1 activity.

The plus-maze discriminative avoidance task (PMDAT) has been used to investigate interactions between aversive memory and an anxiety-like response in rodents. Suitable performance in this task depends on the activity of the basolateral amygdala, similar to other aversive-based memory tasks. However, the role of spatial cues and hippocampal-dependent learning in the performance of PMDAT remains unknown. Here, we investigated the role of proximal and distal cues in the retrieval of this task. Animals tested under misplaced proximal cues had diminished performance, and animals tested under both misplaced proximal cues and absent distal cues could not discriminate the aversive arm. We also assessed the role of the dorsal hippocampus (CA1) in this aversive memory task. Temporary bilateral inactivation of dorsal CA1 was conducted with muscimol (0.05 µg, 0.1 µg, and 0.2 µg) prior to the training session. While the acquisition of the task was not altered, muscimol impaired the performance in the test session and reduced the anxiety-like response in the training session. We also performed a spreading analysis of a fluorophore-conjugated muscimol to confirm selective inhibition of CA1. In conclusion, both distal and proximal cues are required to retrieve the task, with the latter being more relevant to spatial orientation. Dorsal CA1 activity is also required for aversive memory formation in this task, and interfered with the anxiety-like response as well. Importantly, both effects were detected by different parameters in the same paradigm, endorsing the previous findings of independent assessment of aversive memory and anxiety-like behavior in the PMDAT. Taken together, these findings suggest that the PMDAT probably requires an integration of multiple systems for memory formation, resembling an episodic-like memory rather than a pure conditioning behavior. Furthermore, the concomitant and independent assessment of emotionality and memory in rodents is relevant to elucidate how these memory systems interact during aversive memory formation. Thus, the PMDAT can be useful for studying hippocampal-dependent memory when it involves emotional content.

Effect of synthetic steroids on GABAA receptor binding in rat brain.

Neuroactive steroids, like allopregnanolone (A) and pregnanolone (P), bind to specifics sites on the GABAA receptor complex and modulate receptor function. They are capable to inhibit or stimulate the binding of GABAA receptor-specific ligands, like t-butyl-bicyclophosphorothionate, flunitrazepam and muscimol. We have previously characterized a set of oxygen-bridged synthetic steroids (SS) analogs to A or P using synaptosomes. Considering that the subunit composition of the GABAA receptor throughout the central nervous system affects the magnitude of the modulation of the GABAA receptor by NAS, we evaluated the action of two selected SS, in brain sections containing the cerebral cortex (CC) and hippocampus (HC) using quantitative receptor autoradiography. Both SS affected the binding of the three ligands in a similar way to A and P, with some differences on certain CC layers according to the ligand used. One of the SS, the 3α-hydroxy-6,19-epoxypregn-4-ene-20-one (compound 5), behaved similarly to the natural neuroactive steroids. However, significant differences with compound 5 were observed on the HC CA2 region, making it steroid suitable for a specific action. Those differences may be related to structural conformation of the SS and the subunits' composition present on the receptor complex.

Quantum dot conjugates of GABA and muscimol: binding to α1ß2γ2 and ρ1 GABA(A) receptors.

GABAA receptors are ligand-gated ion channels that mediate inhibitory synaptic signaling in the CNS. Fluorescent probes with the ability to target these receptors can provide insights into receptor location, distribution and dynamics in live cells, while revealing abnormalities in their distribution and dynamics that could occur in a variety of diseases. We have developed fluorescent probes of GABAA receptors that are composed of a CdSe/ZnS core-shell nanocrystal (quantum dot; qdot) conjugated to pegylated derivatives of the GABA receptor agonists GABA and muscimol (GABA-qdots and muscimol-qdots, respectively). Quantitative fluorescence imaging was used to analyze the binding activity of these conjugates to α1ß2γ2 GABAA and ρ1 GABAA receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes. The selectivity of these conjugates for α1ß2γ2 GABAA and ρ1 GABAA receptors was determined by their ability to compete with the antagonists bicuculline and methyl-(1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridin-4-yl)phosphinic acid (TPMPA). Both GABA- and muscimol-qdots exhibited robust binding to both α1ß2γ2 and ρ1 GABAA receptors. At α1ß2γ2 receptors, pretreatment with bicuculline reduced conjugate binding by ≥8-fold on average, an extent far exceeding the reduction produced by TPMPA (~30%). Conversely, at ρ1 receptors, pretreatment with TPMPA inhibited binding by ~10-fold, an extent greatly exceeding the change produced by bicuculline (~50% or less). These results indicate specific binding of muscimol-qdots and GABA-qdots to α1ß2γ2 GABAA and ρ1 GABAA receptors in a manner that preserves the respective pharmacological sensitivities of these receptors to TPMPA and bicuculline, and encourage the use of qdot-conjugated neurotransmitter analogs as labeling agents at GABAA receptors.

Extrasynaptic GABAA receptors in rat pontine reticular formation increase wakefulness.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) causes phasic inhibition via synaptic GABAA receptors and tonic inhibition via extrasynaptic GABAA receptors. GABA levels in the extracellular space regulate arousal state and cognition by volume transmission via extrasynaptic GABAA receptors. GABAergic transmission in the pontine reticular formation promotes wakefulness. No previous studies have determined whether an agonist at extrasynaptic GABAA receptors administered into the pontine reticular formation alters sleep and wakefulness. Therefore, this study used gaboxadol (THIP; agonist at extrasynaptic GABAA receptors that contain a δ subunit) to test the hypothesis that extrasynaptic GABAA receptors within the pontine reticular formation modulate sleep and wakefulness. DESIGN: Within/between subjects. SETTING: University of Michigan. PATIENTS OR PARTICIPANTS: Adult male Crl:CD*(SD) (Sprague-Dawley) rats (n = 10). INTERVENTIONS: Microinjection of gaboxadol, the nonsubtype selective GABAA receptor agonist muscimol (positive control), and saline (negative control) into the rostral pontine reticular formation. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Gaboxadol significantly increased wakefulness and decreased both nonrapid eye movement sleep and rapid eye movement sleep in a concentration-dependent manner. Relative to saline, gaboxadol did not alter electroencephalogram power. Microinjection of muscimol into the pontine reticular formation of the same rats that received gaboxadol increased wakefulness and decreased sleep. CONCLUSION: Tonic inhibition via extrasynaptic GABAA receptors that contain a δ subunit may be one mechanism by which the extracellular pool of endogenous GABA in the rostral pontine reticular formation promotes wakefulness. CITATION: Vanini G; Baghdoyan HA. Extrasynaptic GABAA receptors in rat pontine reticular formation increase wakefulness. SLEEP 2013;36(3):337-343.

Increases in [3H]muscimol and [3H]flumazenil binding in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia are linked to α4 and γ2S mRNA levels respectively.

BACKGROUND: GABA(A) receptors (GABA(A)R) are composed of several subunits that determine sensitivity to drugs, synaptic localisation and function. Recent studies suggest that agonists targeting selective GABA(A)R subunits may have therapeutic value against the cognitive impairments observed in schizophrenia. In this study, we determined whether GABA(A)R binding deficits exist in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of people with schizophrenia and tested if changes in GABA(A)R binding are related to the changes in subunit mRNAs. The GABA orthosteric and the benzodiazepine allosteric binding sites were assessed autoradiographically using [(3)H]Muscimol and [(3)H]Flumazenil, respectively, in a large cohort of individuals with schizophrenia (n = 37) and their matched controls (n = 37). We measured, using qPCR, mRNA of ß (ß1, ß2, ß3), γ (γ1, γ2, γ2S for short and γ2L for long isoform, γ3) and δ subunits and used our previous measurements of GABA(A)R α subunit mRNAs in order to relate mRNAs and binding through correlation and regression analysis. RESULTS: Significant increases in both [(3)H]Muscimol (p = 0.016) and [(3)H]Flumazenil (p = 0.012) binding were found in the DLPFC of schizophrenia patients. Expression levels of mRNA subunits measured did not show any significant difference in schizophrenia compared to controls. Regression analysis revealed that in schizophrenia, the [(3)H]Muscimol binding variance was most related to α4 mRNA levels and the [(3)H]Flumazenil binding variance was most related to γ2S subunit mRNA levels. [(3)H]Muscimol and [(3)H]Flumazenil binding were not affected by the lifetime anti-psychotics dose (chlorpromazine equivalent). CONCLUSIONS: We report parallel increases in orthosteric and allosteric GABA(A)R binding sites in the DLPFC in schizophrenia that may be related to a "shift" in subunit composition towards α4 and γ2S respectively, which may compromise normal GABAergic modulation and function. Our results may have implications for the development of treatment strategies that target specific GABA(A)R receptor subunits.

Hco-LGC-38 is novel nematode cys-loop GABA receptor subunit.

We have identified and characterized a novel cys-loop GABA receptor subunit (Hco-LGC-38) from the parasitic nematode Haemonchus contortus. This subunit is present in parasitic and free-living nematodes and shares similarity to both the UNC-49 group of GABA receptor subunits from nematodes and the resistant to dieldrin (RDL) receptors of insects. Expression of the Hco-lgc-38 gene in Xenopus oocytes and subsequent electrophysiological analysis has revealed that the gene encodes a homomeric channel sensitive to GABA (EC(50) 19 µM) and the GABA analogue muscimol. The sensitivity of the Hco-LGC-38 channel to GABA is similar to reported values for the Drosophila RDL receptor whereas its lower sensitivity to muscimol is similar to nematode GABA receptors. Hco-LGC-38 is also highly sensitive to the channel blocker picrotoxin and moderately sensitive to fipronil and dieldrin. Homology modeling of Hco-LGC-38 and subsequent docking of GABA and muscimol into the binding site has uncovered several types of potential interactions with binding-site residues and overall appears to share similarity with models of other invertebrate GABA receptors.

Autoradiographic evidence for the transmeningeal diffusion of muscimol into the neocortex in rats.

Electrophysiological and behavioral studies have demonstrated that muscimol administered through the cranial meninges can prevent focal neocortical seizures. It was proposed that transmeningeal muscimol delivery can be used for the treatment of intractable focal neocortical epilepsy. However, it has not been proved that muscimol administered via the transmeningeal route can penetrate into the neocortex. The purpose of the present study was to solve this problem by using combined autoradiography-histology methods. Four rats were implanted with epidural cups over the parietal cortices. A 50 µL mixture of [³H] muscimol and unlabeled muscimol with a final concentration of 1.0mM was delivered through each cup on the dura mater. After a 1-hour exposure, the muscimol solution was removed and replaced with formalin to trap the transmeningeally diffused molecules. Then the whole brain was fixed transcardially, sectioned, with the sections subjected to autoradiography and thionine counterstaining. Results showed that (1) [³H] muscimol diffused through the meninges into the cortical tissue underlying the epidural cup in all rats. (2) [³H] muscimol-related autoradiography grains were distributed in all six neocortical layers. (3) [³H] muscimol-related autoradiography grains were localized to the cortical area underneath the epidural delivery site and were absent in the cerebral cortical white matter and other brain structures. This study provided evidence that muscimol can be delivered via the transmeningeal route into the neocortical tissue in a spatially controlled manner. The finding further supports the rationale of using transmeningeal muscimol for the treatment of intractable focal neocortical epilepsy.

Amino acid tissue levels and GABAA receptor binding in the developing rat cerebellum following status epilepticus.

Incidence of status epilepticus (SE) is higher in children than in adults and SE can be induced in developing rats. The cerebellum can be affected after SE; however, consequences of cerebellar amino acid transmission have been poorly studied. The goal of this study was to determine amino acid tissue concentration and GABA(A) receptor binding in the immature rat cerebellum after an episode of SE. Thirteen-day-old (P13) rat pups received intraperitoneal injections of lithium chloride (3 mEq/kg). Twenty hours later, on P14, SE was induced by subcutaneous injection of pilocarpine hydrochloride (60 mg/kg). Control animals were given an equal volume of saline subcutaneously. Animals were killed 24h after SE induction, the cerebellum was quickly removed, and the vermis and hemispheres were rapidly dissected out on ice. Amino acid tissue concentrations in the vermis and hemispheres were evaluated by HPLC and fluorescent detection. GABA(A) receptor binding in the medial vermis was analyzed by in vitro autoradiography. SE increased the tissue levels of the inhibitory amino acids taurine (80%) and alanine (91%), as well as glutamine (168%) in the cerebellar hemisphere; no changes were observed in the vermis. SE did not modify GABA(A) receptor binding in any cerebellar lobule from the vermis. Our data demonstrate that SE produces region-specific changes in amino acid concentrations in the developing cerebellum.