SELECTIVE ACTIVATION OF CALCIUM PERMEABILITY BY ASPARTATE IN PURKINJE-CELLS

Glutamate and aspartate are endogenous excitatory amino acid neurotran smitters widely distributed in the mammalian central nervous system, A spartate was shown to induce a large membrane current sensitive to N-m ethyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and non-NMDA receptor antagonists in Purkinje cells from mice lacking functional NMDA receptors (NR1(-/-)). This re sponse was accompanied by high permeability to calcium, in contrast, n o current was induced by aspartate in hippocampal neurons and cerebell ar granule cells from NR1(-/-) mice, Several other glutamate receptor agonists failed to evoke this response. Thus, in Purkinje cells, aspar tate activates a distinct response capable of contributing to synaptic plasticity through calcium permeability.