4,4'-diisothiocyano-2 ,2'-stilbenedisulfonate protects cultured cerebellar granule neurons from death

We examined the effects of 4,4'-diisothiocyano-2,2'-stilbenedisulfonate (DIDS), an inhibitor of the chloride-bicarbonate exchangers and chloride channels, on death in cultured cerebellar granule neurons. Various stimuli, such as reduction of extracellular K+ concentration, removal of growth factors, and staurosporine treatment, induced cell death. This death was blocked by DIDS in a dose dependent manner. In the presence of DIDS, the cells exposed to such stimuli did not show DNA fragmentation, but retained the ability to exclude trypan blue and to metabolize MTT to formazan. On the other hand, pretreatment of the cells with DIDS did not show any protective effects. The neuroprotective effect of DIDS was not influenced by extracellular Na+, Cl-, HCO3- or Ca2+ concentrations, although reduction of extracellular Cl- or Ca2+ concentrations per se induced neuronal death. Other chloride-bicarbonate exchange blockers like 4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyanatostilmene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (SITS) or 4,4'-dinitrostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DNDS) showed no significant effects on neuronal survival under these death-inducing stimuli. Dimethylamiloride, an inhibitor of the Na+/H+ exchanger, did not influence neuronal death induced by these stimuli. Cells undergoing death showed gradual intracellular acidification, and DIDS did not inhibit this response, although DIDS (2 mM) per se induced transitory acidification followed by recovery within 10 min. DIDS did not influence intracellular Ca2+ or Cl-levels during the lethal process. DIDS suppressed the cleavage of caspase-3 in the cells exposed to the death-inducing stimuli. These findings suggest that the neuroprotective effect of DIDS is mediated by a novel mechanism other than by nonselective inhibition of transporters or channels, and that DIDS blocks the death program upstream of caspases and downstream of all of the activation processes triggered by various stimuli.