Secreted phospholipase A2 potentiates glutamate-induced calcium increase and cell death in primary neuronal cultures

Abstract

Secreted phospholipases A2 (sPLA2s) modulate neuronal survival and neurotransmitter release. Here we show that sPLA2 (group III) synergistically increases glutamate-induced cell death and intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) in cultured primary cortical and hippocampal neurons. Whereas 1 microM glutamate elicited transient [Ca2+]i increases in all neurons that recovered 66% to baseline, 25 ng/ml sPLA2 pretreatment resulted in sustained [Ca2+]i increases, with only 5% recovery. At 250 nM glutamate, 25% of neurons failed to respond, and the average recovery time was 101 +/- 12 sec; sPLA2 increased recovery time to 158 +/- 6 sec, and only 2% of cells failed to respond. Both the noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist MK-801 and the calcium-channel blocker cobalt inhibited this effect. Experiments with the glutamate uptake inhibitor L-trans-pyrollidine-2,4-dicarboxylic acid (2.5 microM) indicated that glutamate uptake sites are not a likely modulation point by sPLA2, whereas arachidonic acid (AA) potentiated calcium responses to glutamate. Thus the enhancement of glutamate-induced [Ca2+]i increases by sPLA2 may be due to modulation at NMDA receptors and/or calcium channels by AA. These results indicate that sPLA2 affects neuronal responses to both nontoxic (0.1-10 microM) and toxic (=25 microM) concentrations of glutamate, implicating this enzyme in neuronal functions in pathology.