INHIBITION OF THE PHOSPHOLIPASE C-LINKED METABOTROPIC GLUTAMATE RECEPTOR BY 2-AMINO-3-PHOSPHONOPROPIONATE IS DEPENDENT ON EXTRACELLULAR CALCIUM

D,L-2-Amino-3-phosphonopropionate (AP-3), a proposed metabotropic receptor antagonist, produced a concentration-dependent increase in the formation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate in rat hippocampal slices. The response was maximal at 1 mM and completely due to the L-isomer. D,L-AP-3 was half as efficacious as (1S,3R)-1-aminocyclopentane-1,3-dicarboxylic acid (1S,3R-ACPD), a selective agonist of this receptor. The response produced by maximally effective concentrations Of L-AP-3 and 1S,3R-ACPD together for 5 min was not significantly different from that produced by 1S,3R-ACPD alone. However, pretreatment for 40 min with either 1 mM L-AP-3 or D,L-AP-3 completely inhibited the response to 1S,3R-ACPD. This inhibition was long-lasting (wash-resistant) and was reversed by reduction of the extracellular Ca2+ concentration. Also, pretreatment for 40 min with 1S,3R-ACPD reduced, but did not completely block, the response to readdition of 1S,3R-ACPD. L-AP-3 (1 mM) also produced a stereoselective 2.3-fold increase in the efflux of glutamate from the hippocampal slices. These data suggest that incubation of hippocampal slices with AP-3 induces a time-dependent desensitization of the metabotropic response by a mechanism that is dependent on extracellular Ca2+. The possible roles of receptor occupancy and inhibition of glutamate uptake by AP-3 are also discussed.