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Science 30 November 1990:
Vol. 250. no. 4985, pp. 1276 - 1278
DOI: 10.1126/science.1978759
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Articles

Science, Vol 250, Issue 4985, 1276-1278
Copyright © 1990 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Glutamate, the dominant excitatory transmitter in neuroendocrine regulation

AN van den Pol, JP Wuarin, and FE Dudek

Section of Neurosurgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510.

Glutamate has been found to play an unexpectedly important role in neuroendocrine regulation in the hypothalamus, as revealed in converging experiments with ultrastructural immunocytochemistry, optical physiology with a calcium-sensitive dye, and intracellular electrical recording. There were large amounts of glutamate in boutons making synaptic contact with neuroendocrine neurons in the arcuate, paraventricular, and supraoptic nuclei. Almost all medial hypothalamic neurons responded to glutamate and to the glutamate agonists quisqualate and kainate with a consistent increase in intracellular calcium. In all magnocellular and parvocellular neurons of the paraventricular and arcuate nuclei tested, the non-NMDA (non-N-methyl-D-aspartate) glutamate antagonist CNQX (cyano-2,3-dihydroxy-7-nitroquinoxaline) reduced electrically stimulated and spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic potentials, suggesting that the endogenous neurotransmitter is an excitatory amino acid acting primarily on non-NMDA receptors. These results indicate that glutamate plays a major, widespread role in the control of neuroendocrine neurons.


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