The periaqueductal gray (PAG) is involved in the central regulation of nociceptive transmission by affecting the descending inhibitory pathway. In the present study, we have addressed the functional role of presynaptic glycine receptors in spontaneous glutamatergic transmission. Spontaneous EPSCs (sEPSCs) were recorded in mechanically dissociated rat PAG neurons using a conventional whole-cell ...

The inhibitory glycine receptor is a ligand-gated ion-channel protein existing in different homo- and heterooligomeric isoforms. Here we show that the chloride channel of the recombinant alpha 1-subunit homooligomeric glycine receptor is efficiently blocked by cyanotriphenylborate (CTB) with a concentration effecting 50% inhibition (IC50) of 1.3 microM in the presence of 50 microM glycine. The ...

The determination of individual amino acids in body fluids under pathological and experimental conditions should permit extension of information farther than is possible wit.h procedures that measure amino acids collectively. We are reporting some observations upon experimentally produced changes in the concentrations of glycine and alanine, as measured by chemical methods (1, 2) which are spec...

The functional properties of rat homomeric alpha 1 glycine receptors were investigated using whole-cell and outside-out recording from human embryonic kidney cells transfected with rat alpha1 subunit cDNA. Whole-cell dose-response curves gave EC(50) estimates between 30 and 120 microM and a Hill slope of approximately 3.3. Single channel recordings were obtained by steady-state application of g...

1. A double-lumen perfusion technique has been used in man to study intestinal absorption of two tripeptides, glycyl-glycyl-glycine and L-alanyl-glycyl-glycine. Intraluminal tripeptide hydrolysis has been investigated by incubating both tripeptides in vitro with fresh uncentrifuged saline aspirates. 2. Glycine was absorbed faster from a glycyl-glycyl-glycine solution (3.3 mmol/l) than from an e...

Isolated soybean leaf mesophyll cells decarboxylated exogenously added [1-(14)C]glycolate and [1-(14)C]glycine in the dark. The rate of CO(2) release from glycine was inhibited over 90% by isonicotinic acid hydrazide and about 80% by KCN, two inhibitors of the glycine to serine plus CO(2) reaction. The release of CO(2) from glycolate was inhibited by less than 50% under the same conditions. Thi...

Objective: Whether orally administered L-serine influences amino acid metabolism in the brain was investigated. Methods: L-Serine (6 mmol/10 ml/kg) was orally administered to rats after a 9 hr fast and plasma and brain samples were obtained at 30, 60 and 120 min in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, the effect of L-serine and glycine on brain amino acid metabolism was compared. Results: In Experime...

The coupled feeding of sarcosine (N-methylglycine) and benzoic acid, like the coupled feeding of glycine and benzoic acid, results in the excretion of hippuric acid at a rate greater than that when benzoic acid is fed alone (1). When sarcosine containing an excess of N16 is fed to rats, the isotope content of the amino acids of the tissues is almost identical with that of animals fed glycine co...

The study investigated the mechanism by which glycine protects against increased circulating nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA), fat cell size, intra-abdominal fat accumulation, and blood pressure (BP) induced in male Wistar rats by sucrose ingestion. The addition of 1% glycine to the drinking water containing 30% sucrose, for 4 wk, markedly reduced high BP in sucrose-fed rats (SFR) (122.3 +/- 5....