Biomedical subjects

B Belhage

Publications and source records attributed to B Belhage.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1988

GABA agonist promoted formation of low affinity GABA receptors on cerebellar granule cells is restricted to early development.

The ability of the GABA receptor agonist 4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisoxazolo[5,4-c]pyridin-3-ol (THIP) to promote formation of low affinity GABA receptors on cerebellar granule cells was tested using primary cultures of these neurons. Granule cells were exposed to THIP (150 microM) for 6 hr after, respectively, 4, 7, 10 and 14 days in culture. It was found that THIP treatment of 4- and 7-day-old cultures led to formation of low affinity GABA receptors, whereas such receptors could not be detected after THIP treatment in the older cultures (10 and 14 days) in spite of the fact that these cultured granule cells expressed a high density of high affinity GABA receptors. It is concluded that the ability of THIP to promote formation of low affinity GABA receptors on cerebellar granule cells is restricted to an early developmental period.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Gamma-aminobutyric acid agonist-induced alterations in the ultrastructure of cultured cerebellar granule cells is restricted to early development.

The effect of 4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisoxazolo[5,4-c]-pyridin-3-ol (THIP) on the ultrastructural composition of cultured cerebellar granule cells was investigated during development by quantitative electron microscopy (morphometric analysis). Granule cells were exposed to THIP (150 microM) for 6 h after 7 and 14 days, respectively, in culture. THIP treatment of 7-day-old cultures led to a statistically significant increase in the cytoplasmic density of rough endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, vesicles, and coated vesicles, whereas no significant increase in the cytoplasmic density of these organelles was observed in 14-day-old cultures exposed to THIP for 6 h. These findings show that the effect of THIP on the ultrastructural composition of cultured cerebellar granule cells is restricted to early development.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Temporal development of GABA agonist induced alterations in ultrastructure and GABA receptor expression in cultured cerebellar granule cells.

The temporal development of the effect of THIP (4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisoxazolo[5,4-c]pyridin-3-ol) on the ultrastructure composition and GABA receptor expression in cerebellar granule cells was investigated by quantitative electron microscopy (morphometric analysis) and GABA binding assays. It was found that the cytoplasmic density of smooth endoplasmic reticulum was decreased, while the cytoplasmic density of rough endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, vesicles and coated vesicles was greatly enhanced after exposure of the cells to THIP (150 microM) for only 1 hr. In cerebellar granule cells exposed to THIP (150 microM) for 3 hr low affinity GABA receptors were induced. These findings show that the effect of THIP on the ultrastructure composition and GABA receptor expression in cultured cerebellar granule cells may be interrelated and moreover it is likely that the turn-over of GABA receptors is extremely fast.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Differences between seizure-prone and non-seizure-prone mice with regard to glutamate and GABA receptor binding in the hippocampus and other regions of the brain.

Quisqualate-preferring glutamate receptors were determined in membranes from frontal cortex, occipital cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum, from seizure-prone DBA/2J BOM and seizure-resistant C57/BL mice. The animals were studied 21, 27 and 40 days postnatally, i.e., before, during and after the age at which DBA mice are most susceptible to seizures. Radio-binding assays were performed using [3H]AMPA in the presence of 100 nM glutamate. Except for the occipital cortex, where no significant differences between the two strains were observed, all areas of the brain of DBA mice exhibited significantly (P less than 0.001, t test) higher AMPA binding than the corresponding areas of C57/BL mice at 27 days of age. At pre- and post-susceptible ages, the two strains showed no significant differences in the hippocampus and occipital cortex. A significant difference was observed, however, in the frontal cortex and cerebellum at the ages of 21 and 40 days, respectively, although this difference was considerably less than at 27 days. In addition to determination of glutamate receptors, GABA-receptor binding was also studied in membranes from the same cerebral areas and at the above-mentioned ages. Binding characteristics, using [3H]GABA as the ligand, were essentially identical in the two strains at all ages investigated, i.e., both low and high affinity GABA receptors could be identified with KD values of 6-16 nM and 100-800 nM, respectively.

Age Factors↗

PubMed1986

GABA-agonists induce the formation of low-affinity GABA-receptors on cultured cerebellar granule cells via preexisting high affinity GABA receptors.

The kinetics of specific GABA-binding to membranes isolated from cerebellar granule cells, cultured for 12 days from dissociated cerebella of 7-day-old rats was studied using [3H]GABA as the ligand. The granule cells were cultured in the presence of the specific GABA receptor agonist 4, 5, 6, 7-tetrahydroisoxazolo [5,4-c]pyridin-3-ol (THIP, 150 microM) or THIP plus the antagonist bicuculline methobromide (150 microM of each) or in the absence of the agonist or antagonist. Membranes isolated from granule cells cultured in a medium without the GABA agonist revealed a single binding site for GABA with a binding constant (KD) of 7.9 +/- 0.4 nM and a Bmax of 3.42 +/- 0.08 pmol X mg-1 protein. Membranes from cells cultured in the presence of THIP had two binding sites for GABA with KD-values of 6.8 +/- 0.9 nM and 476 +/- 311 nM, respectively. The corresponding Bmax values were 4.41 +/- 0.42 pmol X mg-1 and 5.81 +/- 1.20 pmol X mg-1. The effect of culturing the cells in THIP was antagonized by the simultaneous presence of bicuculline in the culture media, i.e. no significant low-affinity binding for GABA was found on the membranes from granule cells cultured in both THIP and bicuculline. The KD value (14.3 +/- 1.4 nM) for the high affinity binding site was, however, slightly increased compared to the non-treated cells. These findings suggest that the ability of THIP to induce formation of low-affinity GABA receptors is mediated by preexisting high-affinity GABA-receptors on the granule cells.

Animals↗