Pb2+ reduces the current from NMDA receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes.

We compared the effects of Pb2+ on four types of NMDA receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Pb2+ reduced the currents evoked by glutamate and glycine. The Ki values of the receptors, epsilon 1/zeta 1, epsilon 2/zeta 1, epsilon 3/zeta 1 and epsilon 4/zeta 1, were 39, 34, 54 and 42 microM, respectively, and their Hill coefficients were 0.53, 4.6, 0.52 and 0.37, respectively. The epsilon 2/zeta 1 receptor that was inhibited in the presence of over 30 microM Pb2+ was not recovered to the control level after a Pb2+ washout for over 30 min, suggesting that epsilon 2/zeta 1 is responsible for the chronic Pb2+ intoxication in the nervous system.