Elsevier

Brain Research

Volume 747, Issue 2, 7 February 1997, Pages 297-303
Brain Research

Research report
Intrinsic redox properties of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor can determine the developmental expression of excitotoxicity in rat cortical neurons in vitro

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-8993(96)01237-1Get rights and content

Abstract

The sensitivity of central neurons in culture to N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated cell death increases with development. In this study, we show that this phenomenon in vitro may be due, at least in part, to changes in the redox properties of the NMDA receptor itself. With increasing days in culture, NMDA-induced electrical responses in rat cortical neurons are less sensitive to dithiothreitol-induced potentiation and spontaneously oxidize less readily than in younger cells. These results imply that at earlier developmental ages NMDA receptors prefer a more oxidized state. Hence, in the presence of a reducing agent, NMDA-induced neurotoxicity was produced in normally resistant younger neurons. The observed changes in NMDA receptor properties with development could not be attributed to long-range diffusible redox endogenous factors. An oxidized NMDA receptor thus confers maturing neurons a protective mechanism against glutamate toxicity during development.

References (34)

Cited by (33)

  • Liquid scintillation analysis: Principles and practice

    2020, Handbook of Radioactivity Analysis: Volume 1: Radiation Physics and Detectors
  • Liquid Scintillation Analysis: Principles and Practice

    2013, Handbook of Radioactivity Analysis
View all citing articles on Scopus
View full text