Stimulation of glutamate uptake and Na, K-ATPase activity in rat astrocytes exposed to ischemia-like insults

The postsynaptic actions of glutamate are rapidly terminated by high affinity glutamate uptake into glial cells. In this study we demonstrate the stimulation of both glutamate uptake and Na,K-ATPase activity in rat astrocyte cultures in response to sublethal ischemia-like insults. Primary cultures of neonatal rat cortical astrocytes were subjected to hypoxia, or to serum- and glucose-free medium, or to both conditions (ischemia). Cell death was assessed by propidium iodide staining of cell nuclei. To measure sodium pump activity and glutamate uptake, 3H-glutamate and 86Rb were both simultaneously added to the cell culture in the presence or absence of 2 mM ouabain. Na,K-ATPase activity was defined as ouabain-sensitive 86Rb uptake. Concomitant transient increases (2-3 times above control levels) of both Na,K-ATPase and glutamate transporter activities were observed in astrocytes after 4-24 h of hypoxia, 4 h of glucose deprivation, and 2-4 h of ischemia. A 24 h ischemia caused a profound loss of both activities in parallel with significant cell death. The addition of 5 mM glucose to the cells after 4 h ischemia prevented the loss of both sodium pump activity and glutamate uptake and rescued astrocytes from death observed at the end of 24 h ischemia. Reoxygenation after the 4 h ischemic event caused the selective inhibition of Na,K-ATPase activity. The observed increases in Na,K-ATPase activity and glutamate uptake in cultured astrocytes subjected to sublethal ischemia-like insults may model an important functional response of astrocytes in vivo by which they attempt to maintain ion and glutamate homeostasis under restricted energy and oxygen supply.