Ed. Zarnowska et Jw. Mozrzymas, Chlorpromazine prolongs the deactivation of N-methyl-D-aspartate-induced currents in cultured rat hippocampal neurons, NEUROSCI L, 315(1-2), 2001, pp. 1-4
The effect of chlorpromazine (CPZ) on deactivation of N-methyl-D-aspartate
(NMDA)-induced currents was studied in the whole-cell configuration of the
patch-clamp technique in cultured rat hippocampal neurons. We report that C
PZ (at 30-1000 muM) strongly slowed down the deactivation process in a dose
-dependent manner. At high CPZ concentration (1 mM), the NMDA-elicited curr
ents were insensitive to NMDA removal as long as CPZ was present and deacti
vated only when both NMDA and CPZ were washed out. CPZ by itself did not ac
tivate any current. These data indicate that one of CPZ actions is to stabi
lise the open conformation of NMDA receptors probably by fixing it in the b
ound state. This CPZ effect may be important as the synaptic currents repre
sent mainly the deactivation process. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd
. All rights reserved.