Kk. Daniels et Tw. Vickroy, SELECTIVE LOSS OF PHORBOL-12,13-DIBUTYRATE-FACILITATED L-GLUTAMATE TRANSPORT IN FOREBRAIN NEURONS OF AGED RATS, The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 53(6), 1998, pp. 449-451
Phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu), an activator of protein kinase C, was
used to evaluate potential age-related changes in phosphorylation-dep
endent facilitation of high-affinity L-glutamate uptake in the rat cen
tral nervous system (CNS). Forebrain homogenates from male Fischer-344
/brown Norway Fl hybrid rats were separated into glio-enriched (glial
plasmalemmal vesicles) and neuron-enriched fractions (synaptosomes) an
d assayed for sodium-dependent transport of L-[H-3]glutamate. Glial fr
actions from rats aged 5, 25, 31, and 37 months exhibited similar rate
s of basal L-[H-3]glutamate transport and demonstrated no significant
age-related differences with respect to the maximal facilitatory effec
t of PDBu (1-100 mu M). In contrast, neuronal fractions exhibited an a
ge-related decline ill both indices, with basal L-[H-3]glutamate trans
port decreasing from 710 +/- 31 to 560 +/- 40 pmoL/mg protein/90 s for
the 5- and 37-month groups, respectively (p < .03) and PDBu having a
significantly attenuated effect in aged animals. Together, these resul
ts provide support for the hypothesis that aging is associated with a
decrease in the number of neuronal L-glutamate transporters as well as
a diminished capacity to up-regulate these transporters through a pro
tein kinase C-dependent pathway.