H. Fujita et al., Differential expressions of glycine transporter 1 and three glutamate transporter mRNA in the hippocampus of gerbils with transient forebrain ischemia, J CEREBR B, 19(6), 1999, pp. 604-615
The extracellular concentrations of glutamate and its co-agonist for the N-
methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, glycine, may be under the control of am
ino acid transporters in the ischemic brain. However, there is little infor
mation on changes in glycine and glutamate transporters in the hippocampal
CA1 field of gerbils with transient forebrain ischemia. This study investig
ated the spatial and temporal expressions of glycine transporter 1 (GLYT1)
and three glutamate transporter (excitatory amino acid carrier 1, EAAC1; gl
utamate/aspartate transporter, GLAST; glutamate transporter 1, GLT1) mRNA i
n the gerbil hippocampus after 3 minutes of ischemia, The GLYT1 mRNA was tr
ansiently upregulated by the second day after ischemia in astrocytelike cel
ls in close vicinity to hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons, possibly to redu
ce glycine concentration in the local extracellular spaces. The EAAC1 mRNA
was abundantly expressed in almost all pyramidal neurons and dentate granul
e cells in the control gerbil hippocampus, whereas the expression level in
CA1 pyramidal neurons started to decrease by the fourth day after ischemia
in synchrony with degeneration of the CA1 neurons. The GLAST and GLT1 mRNA
were rather intensely expressed in the dentate gyrus and CA3 field of the c
ontrol hippocampus, respectively, but they were weakly expressed in the CA1
field before and after ischemia. As GLAST and GLT1 play a major role in th
e control of extracellular glutamate concentration, the paucity of these tr
ansporters in the CA 1 field may account for the vulnerability of CAI neuro
ns to ischemia, provided that the functional GLAST and GLT1 proteins are al
so less in the CA1 field than in the CA3 field. This study suggests that th
e amino acid transporters play pivotal roles in the process of delayed neur
onal death in the hippocampal CA1 field.