Endogenous sulphur‐containing amino acids: potent agonists at presynaptic metabotropic glutamate autoreceptors in the rat central nervous system

We have recently demonstrated that presynaptically located metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) autoreceptors regulate synaptic glutamate release both in vitro and in vivo . We now report a positive modulatory action of the sulphur‐containing amino acids (SCAAs), L‐cysteic acid (CA) and L‐cysteine sulphinic acid (CSA), at presynaptic group I mGlu receptors, specifically of the mGlu5 subtype, acting to enhance synaptic glutamate release from the rat forebrain in vitro . Neuronal glutamate release was monitored using electrically‐evoked efflux of preloaded [ 3 H]‐D‐aspartate from rat forebrain hemisections. Both CA (3 – 100 μ M ) and CSA (1 – 100 μ M ), in addition to the selective group I mGlu receptor agonist, (S)‐3,5‐dihydroxyphenylglycine ((S)‐DHPG), concentration‐dependently enhanced electrically‐stimulated efflux of [ 3 H]‐D‐aspartate from the rat forebrain slices. Basal efflux of label remained unchanged. The inhibitory activity of the broad spectrum mGlu receptor antagonist, (±)‐α‐methyl‐4‐carboxyphenylglycine ((±)‐MCPG; 200 μ M ), coupled with the inactivity of the selective mGlu1 receptor antagonists, (R,S)‐1‐aminoindan‐1,5‐dicarboxylic acid ((R,S)‐AIDA; 100 – 500 μ M ) and the more potent (+)‐2‐methyl‐4‐carboxyphenylglycine (LY367385; 10 μ M ) against these responses, indicates an action of the SCAAs at the mGlu5 receptor subtype. This proposal is supported by the potent inhibition of these responses by the selective, non‐competitive mGlu5 receptor antagonist, 2‐methyl‐6‐(phenylethynyl)pyridine (MPEP; 10 μ M ). The observed enhancement of the responses to high concentrations of CA by the selective mGlu5 receptor desensitization inhibitor, cyclothiazide (CYZ; 10 μ M ), is also consistent with this concept. Administration of the agonists in the presence of bovine serum albumin (BSA; 5 – 15 mg ml −1 ) markedly attenuated the positive modulatory responses observed, strongly supporting a role for arachidonic acid in the expression of these mGlu5 receptor‐mediated responses. The regulatory actions of SCAAs on synaptic glutamate release demonstrated in the present study may provide a physiological function for these putative neurotransmitter amino acids in the mammalian brain. These central actions of the SCAAs may have wide‐ranging implications for a range of neurological and neuropsychiatric disease states and their treatment.British Journal of Pharmacology (2001) 133 , 815–824; doi: 10.1038/sj.bjp.0704138