Ontogeny of adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate metabolism in guinea pig cerebral cortex. II. Development of responses to L-glutamate in the presence of adenosine or histamine.

The effects of L-glutamate and other dicarboxylic amino acids on the accumulation of adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) in slices of cerebral cortex from strain 2 guinea pigs were examined using tissue from animals at 39 days gestation to 7 days after birth. Responses to glutamate were inhibited completely by adenosine deaminase or theophylline unless histamine was present. When tested in the presence of adenosine, glutamate increased cyclic AMP accumulation up to 10-fold at 39 days gestation; the response was maximal at 52 days gestation, and both the efficacy and potency of glutamate declined thereafter. While the effects of glutamate were smaller in the presence of histamine plus theophylline, the developmental pattern was similar to that in the presence of adenosine. The relative potencies of D-aspartate, kainate, and alpha-methyl-DL-glutamate were much greater in fetal than in adult tissue. Glutamic acid diethyl ester, N-acetyl glutamate or 2,3-diaminopropionate had no effect in fetal tissue either in the presence or absence of glutamate. Responses to glutamate in adult tissue were much more dependent upon the presence of calcium ions than were those in fetal tissue. It was concluded that responses to glutamate involve mechanisms that differ in fetal and adult tissue.