Functional identification of activity-regulated, high-affinity glutamine transport in hippocampal neurons inhibited by riluzole

Glutamine (Gln) is considered the preferred precursor for the neurotransmitter pool of glutamate (Glu), the major excitatory transmitter in the mammalian CNS. Here, an activity-regulated, high-affinity Gln transport system is described in developing and mature neuron-enriched hippocampal cultures that is potently inhibited by riluzole (IC50 1.30.5M), an anti-glutamatergic drug, and is blocked by low concentrations of 2-(methylamino)isobutyrate (MeAIB), a system A transport inhibitor. K+-stimulated MeAIB transport displays an affinity (K-m) for MeAIB of 37 +/- 1.2M, saturates at -200 mu M, is dependent on extracellular Ca2+, and is blocked by inhibition of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels. Spontaneous MeAIB transport is also dependent on extracellullar Ca2+ and voltage-gated calcium channels, but is also blocked by the Na+ channel blocker tetrodotoxin, by Glu receptor antagonists, and by GABA indicating its dependence on intact neural circuits driven by endogenous glutamatergic activity. The transport of MeAIB itself does not rely on Ca2+, but on Na+ ions, and is pH sensitive. Activity-regulated, riluzole-sensitive spontaneous and K+-stimulated transport is minimal at 7-8days invitro, coordinately induced during the next 2weeks and is maximally expressed by days invitro >20; the known period for maturation of the Glu/Gln cycle and regulated pre-synaptic Glu release. Competition analyses with various amino acids indicate that Gln is the most likely physiological substrate. Activity-regulated Gln/MeAIB transport is not observed in astrocytes. The functional identification of activity-regulated, high-affinity, riluzole-sensitive Gln/MeAIB transport in hippocampal neurons may have important ramifications in the neurobiology of activity-stimulated pre-synaptic Glu release, the Glu/Gln cycle between astrocytes and neurons, and neuronal Glu-induced excitotoxicity.