Inactivation of the glial fibrillary acidic protein gene, but not that of vimentin, improves neuronal survival and neurite growth by modifying adhesion molecule expression.

Intermediate filaments (IFs) are a major component of the cytoskeleton in astrocytes. Their role is far from being completely understood. Immature astrocytes play a major role in neuronal migration and neuritogenesis, and their IFs are mainly composed of vimentin.

Synaptic and non-synaptic AMPA receptors permeable to calcium.

For a long time, alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionate (AMPA) receptors permeable to calcium have been considered to be either non-existent or as "atypical". There is now ample evidence that these receptors exist in numerous regions of the nervous system and in many neuronal as well as non-neuronal cell populations. This evidence has been accumulated by several methods, including electrophysiological recording, calcium imaging and cobalt-loading.

Blockade of AMPA/kainate receptors can either decrease or increase the survival of cultured neocortical cells depending on the stage of maturation.

Neurotoxicity has often been associated with glutamate receptor stimulation and neuroprotection with glutamate receptor blockade. However, the relationship may be much more complex. We dissociated cells from the rat neocortical anlage at an early stage of prenatal development (embryonic day 14).

AMPA receptor activation leads to neurite retraction in tangentially migrating neurons in the intermediate zone of the embryonic rat neocortex.

In rat (König et al. [1998] 28th Annual Meeting of the Society of Neuroscience, Los Angeles. 24:314.

In vitro neuroprotection against glutamate toxicity provided by novel non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonists.

Primary cultures of embryonic cortical cells were used to test the neuroprotective effect of two novel non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonists against the neurotoxicity of glutamate. These two compounds, GK 11 and GK 222, are phencyclidine derivatives that contain asymetric carbon atoms. We have tested the neuroprotective effects of the racemates as well as those of the corresponding plus and minus enantiomers and have compared them with the reference drug dizocilpine (MK-801).