Js. Burgos et al., GUANINE-NUCLEOTIDES PROTECT AGAINST KAINATE TOXICITY IN AN EX-VIVO CHICK RETINAL PREPARATION, FEBS letters, 430(3), 1998, pp. 176-180
Ex vivo preparations of chick neural retina have been successfully use
d in the assessment of excitotoxicity and in the evaluation of the pro
tective effects of glutamate antagonists. Using a variation of this ap
proach, and measuring the acute and delayed toxic effects of kainate (
KA) in terms of lactate dehydrogenase release, we have shown that guan
ine nucleotides behave as effective neuroprotecting agents, The anti-e
xcitotoxic potency of guanine nucleotides (in the case of GMP and GDP
beta S it is about 100 times lower than that of DNQX, a powerful kaina
te antagonist) correlates well with their ability to displace KA from
retinal KA receptors, (C) 1998 Federation of European Biochemical Soci
eties.