Use of Randomized Submaximal Glutamate Stimulus to Interpret Glial Effects on Neuronal Calcium Dynamics

Glutamate (GLU) binding to neurons can cause dynamic changes in intracellular calcium. We tested effects of a 3-group submaximal glutamate stimulus (250, 500 and 750 nanomolar GLU in randomized orders) on neurons in culture, and measured intracellular calcium dynamics in cultures high and low in glia at 8 and 9 days in vitro. Gliadepleted cultures responded to increasing GLU with synchronized dynamics, leading to a greater “area under the curve” (AUC) for intracellular calcium over time. The AUC determined if the neuron would respond dynamically to the next addition of glutamate. This observation was not displayed within cultures high in glia, where AUC returned to baseline with every GLU addition, regardless of order of addition. Furthermore, the 3-group stimulus resulted in decreasing average AUC, regardless of order. In contrast, for cultures depleted of glia, the deciding factor of a responding cell to dynamically respond to GLU additions depended on the ability of the cell to distribute the calcium load (AUC) of the prior addition. Determining how neurons respond and behave such as in the presence of functional or dysfunctional glia, may help our understanding of signal processing in the brain. *Corresponding author: Mark A DeCoster, Biomedical Engineering, Louisiana Tech University, PO Box 10157, Ruston, Louisiana, LA 71270, USA, Tel: 318-2575233; Fax: 318-257-4000; E-mail: [email protected] Received November 23, 2015; Accepted January 04, 2016; Published January 08, 2016 Citation: Kelly KC, Evans K, Paun M, DeCoster MA (2016) Use of Randomized Submaximal Glutamate Stimulus to Interpret Glial Effects on Neuronal Calcium Dynamics. Neurochem Neuropharm Open Access 1: 107. doi:10.4172/24699780.1000107 Copyright: © 2016 Kelly KC, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Citation: Kelly KC, Evans K, Paun M, DeCoster MA (2016) Use of Randomized Submaximal Glutamate Stimulus to Interpret Glial Effects on Neuronal Calcium Dynamics. Neurochem Neuropharm Open Access 1: 107. doi:10.4172/2469-9780.1000107