Regulation of glutamate transporters in astrocytes: Evidence for a relationship between transporter expression and astrocytic phenotype

Abstract

The astrocytic glutamate transporters, EAAT1 and EAAT2, remove released L-glutamate from the synaptic milieu thereby maintaining normal excitatory transmission. EAAT dysfunction during the excitotoxicity and oxidative stress of neurological insults may involve homoeostatic mechanisms associated with astrocytic function. We investigated aspects of EAAT function and expression in concert with astrocytic phenotype in primary cultures of cortical astrocytes and mixed cells of the spinal cord. In spinal cord mixed cultures, hydrogen peroxide (300 microM) reduced both EAAT activity and cellular viability to half of their basal values at 24 h post-treatment, but at 2 h EAAT activity was unaltered, ..