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The effect of N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate and N-acetyl-aspartate on white matter oligodendrocytes

Kolodziejczyk, K.; Hamilton, N. B.; Wade, A.; Karadottir, R.; Attwell, D.; (2009) The effect of N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate and N-acetyl-aspartate on white matter oligodendrocytes. Brain , 132 (6) pp. 1496-1508. 10.1093/brain/awp087. Green open access

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Abstract

Elevations of the levels of N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate (NAAG) and N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) are associated with myelin loss in the leucodystrophies Canavan's disease and Pelizaeus-Merzbacher-like disease. NAAG and NAA can activate and antagonize neuronal N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, and also act on group II metabotropic glutamate receptors. Oligodendrocytes and their precursors have recently been shown to express NMDA receptors, and activation of these receptors in ischaemia leads to the death of oligodendrocyte precursors and the loss of myelin. This raises the possibility that the failure to develop myelin, or demyelination, occurring in the leucodystrophies could reflect an action of NAAG or NAA on oligodendrocyte NMDA receptors. However, since the putative subunit composition of NMDA receptors on oligodendrocytes differs from that of neuronal NMDA receptors, the effects of NAAG and NAA on them are unknown. We show that NAAG, but not NAA, evokes an inward membrane current in cerebellar white matter oligodendrocytes, which is reduced by NMDA receptor block (but not by block of metabotropic glutamate receptors). The size of the current evoked by NAAG, relative to that evoked by NMDA, was much smaller in oligodendrocytes than in neurons, and NAAG induced a rise in [Ca^{2+}]i in neurons but not in oligodendrocytes. These differences in the effect of NAAG on oligodendrocytes and neurons may reflect the aforementioned difference in receptor subunit composition. In addition, as a major part of the response in oligodendrocytes was blocked by tetrodotoxin (TTX), much of the NAAG-evoked current in oligodendrocytes is a secondary consequence of activating neuronal NMDA receptors. Six hours exposure to 1 mM NAAG did not lead to the death of cells in the white matter. We conclude that an action of NAAG on oligodendrocyte NMDA receptors is unlikely to be a major contributor to white matter damage in the leucodystrophies.

Type: Article
Title: The effect of N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate and N-acetyl-aspartate on white matter oligodendrocytes
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1093/brain/awp087
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/brain/awp087
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2009 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract contains LATEX text. Please see PDF for rendered formulae and equations
Keywords: Leucodystrophy, Pelizaeus-Merzbacher-like disease, Canavan's disease, glutamate, NMDA
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Neuro, Physiology and Pharmacology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/20070
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