Abstract:

BACKGROUND: PNMDA receptors are major specific excitatory amino acid glutamate receptors in the brain. Studies have shown that NMDA receptors are involved in many important physiological and pathological processes of the central nervous system.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the NMDA receptor-mediated whole-cell current changes during the development of neural stem cells (NSCs) and neural precursor cells (NPCs) in SD rat hippocampus in vitro.
METHODS: NPCs were induced for 1, 3, 7 and 9 days. Nestin and βⅢ-tubulin positive cells were assessed by immunocytochemistry. Currents were recorded at -60 mV using patch clamp techniques. The NSCs and NPCs were divided into control and experimental groups. For the control group, cells were perfused with Mg2+-free extracellular solution. For the experimental group, cells were respectively perfused with 10, 20, 50 and 100 μmol/L NMDA.
RESULTS AND COUCLUSION: There were no NMDA receptor-induced currents recorded in NSCs. No NMDA receptor-induced currents were detected in NPCs after 1-2 days of differentiation. Current records were obtained after 3 and 7 days of differentiation, and the currents were strengthened with the increasing dose of NMDA. The currents obtained after 7 days of differentiation were larger than those obtained after 3 days of differentiation at the same dose of NMDA. It was indicated that: ①NMDA-mediated currents in NSCs were not detected during experiments. ②NMDA-mediated currents in NPCs were detected after 3 days of differentiation. ③With the differentiation progress of NPCs, NMDA-mediated currents increased.