The Journal of Neurophysiology Vol. 79 No. 3 March 1998, pp. 1384-1395
Copyright ©1998 The American Physiological Society

Different Contributions of GABA_A and GABA_C Receptors to Rod and Cone Bipolar Cells in a Rat Retinal Slice Preparation

Thomas Euler and Heinz Wässle

Max-Planck-Institut für Hirnforschung, D-60528 Frankfurt, Germany

Euler, Thomas and Heinz Wässle. Different contributions ofGABA_A and GABA_C receptors to rod and cone bipolar cells in a rat retinal slice preparation. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 1384-1395, 1998. Whole cell currents were recorded from rod and cone bipolar cells in a slice preparation of the rat retina. Use of the gramicidin D perforated-patch technique prevented loss of intracellular compounds. The recorded cells were identified morphologically by injection with Lucifer yellow. During the recordings, the cells were isolated synaptically by extracellular cobalt. To distinguish the -aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors pharmacologically, theGABA_A receptor antagonist, bicuculline, and the GABA_C receptor antagonist, 3-aminopropyl(methyl)phosphinic acid, were used. In all bipolar cells tested, application of GABA induced postsynaptic chloride currents that hyperpolarized the cells from their resting potential of about 40 mV. GABA was applied at different concentrations to allow for the different affinity of GABA at GABA_A and GABA_C receptors. At a GABA concentration of 25 µM, in the case of rod bipolar cells, ~70% of the current was found to be mediated by GABA_C receptors. In the case of cone bipolar cells, only ~20% of the current was mediated by GABA_C receptors. Furthermore, this GABA_C-mediated fraction varied among the different morphological types of cone bipolar cells, supporting the hypothesis of distinct functional roles for the different types of cone bipolar cells. There is evidence that the efficacy of GABA_C receptors is modulated by glutamate through metabotropic glutamate receptors. We tested this hypothesis by applying agonists of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR)1/5 to rod bipolar cells. The specific agonist (±)-trans-azetidine-2,4-dicarboxylic acid and the potent mGluR agonist quisqualic acid reduced the amplitude of the GABA_C responses by 10-30%. This suggests a functional role for the modulation of GABA_C receptors by the metabotropic glutamate receptors mGluR1/5.

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