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Science 7 October 1977:
Vol. 198. no. 4312, pp. 71 - 72
DOI: 10.1126/science.197604
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Articles

Science, Vol 198, Issue 4312, 71-72
Copyright © 1977 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Selective destruction of neurons by a transmitter agonist

RM Herndon and JT Coyle

Microinjection of nanomole amounts of kainic acid, a heterocyclic analog of glutamate, into the cerebellums of adult hamsters and rats causes rapid degeneration of Purkinje, basket, stellate, and Golgi II cells, neurons that receive synaptic input from granule cells, whereas the granule cells themselves are spared. This selectivity is consistent with the evidence that glutamate is the granule cell transmitter and supports the hypothesis that kainic acid exerts its neurotoxic effects through glutamate receptors.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
On the specificity of kainic acid.
S. Mason and H. Fibiger (1979)
Science 204, 1339-1341
   Abstract »    PDF »
Kainic acid injections result in degeneration of cochlear nucleus cells innervated by the auditory nerve.
S. Bird, R. Gulley, R. Wenthold, and J Fex (1978)
Science 202, 1087-1089
   Abstract »    PDF »
Aphagia and adipsia after preferential destruction of nerve cell bodies in hypothalamus.
S. Grossman, D Dacey, A. Halaris, T Collier, and A Routtenberg (1978)
Science 202, 537-539
   Abstract »    PDF »


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