Mw. Craighead et al., Oxidised adenosine 5 '-triphosphate, a P2X(7) antagonist, is toxic to rat cerebellar granule neurones in vitro, NEUROSCI L, 311(2), 2001, pp. 77-80
Adenosine 5 ' -triphosphate (ATP) acts as a neurotransmitter in the central
nervous system. Extracellular ATP is also toxic to a number of cell types
e.g. via its interaction with P2X membrane receptors, specifically the P2X(
7) family member. These results have led to the hypothesis that elevated AT
P levels may exacerbate damage during acute neurodegeneration [4]. The aim
of this study was to examine the effects of ATP agonists and antagonists on
cultured rat cerebellar granule neurones. Neither ATP, nor the P2X agonist
benzoylbenzoyl-ATP (BzATP), were toxic when added to primary neurones. How
ever, the P2X7 antagonist, oxidised ATP (oATP) was highly neurotoxic. This
toxicity was inhibited by coincubation with BzATP. These results demonstrat
e that oATP is a potent neurotoxin. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science
Ireland Ltd.