Regulation of glutamate and GABA transport by adrenoceptors in primary astroglial cell cultures.

In astrocytes grown in primary cultures from cerebral cortex of neonatal rats, alpha 1-adrenoceptors regulate the active uptake of glutamate followed by an activation of glutamic oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT; EC 2.6.1.1.) and a slight activation of glutamine synthetase (GS; EC 6.3.1.2.) activity. The beta-adrenoceptors regulate the active uptake of GABA, and this is followed by an activation of gamma-aminobutyric acid alpha-ketoglutarate transaminase (GABA-T; EC 2.6.1.19.). The data suggest that astrocyte adrenoceptors may modulate neurotransmitter induced neuronal excitability.