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The κ-opioid receptor plays a central role in mediating the response to stressful life events. Inhibiting κ-opioid receptor signaling is proposed as a mechanism for treating stress-related conditions such as depression and anxiety. Preclinical testing consistently confirms that disruption of κ-opioid signaling is efficacious in animal models of mood disorders. However, concerns about the feasibility of developing antagonists into drugs stem from an unusual pharmacodynamic property of prototypic κ-opioid receptor-selective antagonists; they inhibit receptor signaling for weeks to months after a single dose. Several fundamental questions include - is it possible to identify short-acting antagonists; is long-lasting inhibition necessary for efficacy; and is it safe to develop long-acting antagonists in the clinic. Here, we test representative compounds (AZ-ECPC, AZ-MTAB, and LY-DMPF) from three new chemical series of κ-opioid receptor ligands for long-lasting inhibition. Each compound dose-dependently reversed κ-opioid agonist-induced diuresis. However, unlike the prototypic antagonist, nBNI, which fully inhibited evoked diuresis for at least four weeks, the new compounds showed no inhibition after one week. The two compounds with greater potency and selectivity were tested in prenatally-stressed rats on the elevated plus maze, an exploration-based model of anxiety. Spontaneous exploration of open arms in the elevated plus maze was suppressed by prenatal stress and restored with both compounds. These findings indicate that persistent inhibition is not an inherent property of κ-opioid-selective antagonists and that post-stress dosing with transient inhibitors can be effective in a mood disorder model. This further supports κ-opioid receptor as a promising target for developing novel psychiatric medications.

Quisqualate is a potent neurotoxin in cortical cultures of the rat. Unlike N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), the toxicity of quisqualate is due to overstimulation of a membrane receptor after the agonist has been removed. This receptor appears to be the 2-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor since 2,3-dihydroxy-6-nitro-7-sulfamoyl-benzo(F)quinoxaline (NBQX) and 6,7-dinitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (DNQX) are potent antagonists when added to the post incubation media. NBQX and DNQX are ineffective when present only during quisqualate exposure, indicating the AMPA receptor is not involved in the initial event. Transfer of culture media 30 min after quisqualate exposure to either neuronal or non-neuronal cells was found to cause toxicity in previously untreated neuronal cells. This effect could not be reproduced with NMDA. The neurotoxic chain of events could be interrupted during quisqualate exposure by removal of sodium from the incubation media, suggesting the involvement of a sodium-dependent plasma membrane uptake mechanism. Quisqualate may be continually recycled by internalization and release, causing neurotoxicity by persistent stimulation of the AMPA receptor.

Ibotenic acid (Ibo) has been shown to have agonist activity at both the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and trans-ACPD or metabolotropic quisqualate (Qm) receptor sites in several systems. Both of these receptor sites have been implicated in excitotoxicity. Like NMDA neurotoxicity, Ibo neurotoxicity can be enhanced by glycine and blocked by MK-801. Ibo induced stimulation of phosphoinositide (PI) hydrolysis, on the other hand, is unaffected by either of these treatments. We therefore conclude that Ibo is capable of acting at both NMDA and trans-ACPD receptors in the CNS, although only activation of NMDA receptors is involved in Ibo neurotoxicity. This conclusion leads us to postulate that stimulation of phosphoinositide hydrolysis is neither necessary nor sufficient for neurotoxicity.

Activation of phosphoinositide metabolism is an early event in signal transduction for a number of neurotransmitters and hormones. In primary cultures of rat neurocortical cells, various excitatory amino acids stimulate inositol phosphate production with a rank order of potency of quisqualate greater than ibotenate greater than glutamate greater than kainate, N-methyl-D-aspartate greater than alpha-amino-3-hydroxyl-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate. This response to excitatory amino acids was insensitive to a variety of excitatory amino acid antagonists including 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione, 3-3(2-carboxypiperazine-4-yl)propyl-1-phosphonate, and 2-amino-4-phosphonobutyrate. The individual responses of quisqualate-, ibotenate-, and kainate-stimulated inositol phosphate production were not additive. These results suggest that phosphoinositide metabolism activated by excitatory amino acids is mediated by a unique quisqualate-preferring receptor that is not antagonized by known N-methyl-D-aspartate and non-N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonists, and is relatively insensitive to alpha-amino-3-hydroxyl-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate.

In primary cultures of rat cerebral cortex, N-methyl-D-aspartate causes widespread neurotoxicity. Inhibitors of the nitric oxide generating the enzyme nitric oxide synthase has been shown to attenuate the effects of N-methyl-D-aspartate in a number of neuronal systems both in vivo and in vitro. In our experiments, the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N-nitroarginine was ineffective at blocking neurotoxicity induced by N-methyl-D-aspartate. Cyclic guanine monophosphate, known to be synthesized in response to nitric oxide was demonstrably inhibited by identical treatments with N-nitroarginine in sister cultures. We conclude that although nitric oxide is produced in response to N-methyl-D-aspartate, it is neither necessary nor sufficient for neurotoxicity.

Current evidence indicates that glutamate acting via the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor/ion channel complex plays a major role in the neuronal degeneration associated with a variety of neurological disorders. In this report the role of glycine in NMDA neurotoxicity was examined. We demonstrate that NMDA-mediated neurotoxicity is markedly potentiated by glycine and other amino acids, e.g., d-serine. Putative glycine antagonists HA-966 and 7-chlorokynurenic acid were highly effective in preventing NMDA neurotoxicity, even in the absence of added glycine. The neuroprotective action of HA-966 and 7-chlorokynurenic acid, but not that of NMDA antagonists 3-(2-carboxypiperazine-4-yl)propylphosphonate and MK-801, could be reversed by glycine. These results indicate that glycine, operating through a strychnine-insensitive glycine site, plays a central permissive role in NMDA-mediated neurotoxicity.