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Updated: Aug 11, 2026

A High-content Assay for Monitoring AMPA Receptor Trafficking
Published on: January 28, 2019
Arachidonic acid metabolites as mediators of synaptic modulation
1Department of Pharmacology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, N.Y. 10002.
Abstract:
The neurotransmitters histamine, dopamine and the peptide Phe-Met-Arg-Phe-NH2 (FMRFa) cause presynaptic inhibition in the nervous system of the marine mollusk Aplysia Californica by combined down-modulation of a Ca++ conductance and up-modulation of a K+ conductance. The action of FMRFa on the S-type K+ channels of Aplysia sensory neurons is mediated by a metabolite of the 12-lipoxygenase pathway of arachidonic acid, possibly 12-HPETE. A Pertussis toxin-sensitive GTP binding protein couples FMRFa receptor to the activation of the arachidonic cascade. Once produced, 12-HPETE does not require ATP- or GTP-dependent processes to act on the K+ channels, but it may directly modulate the channel via an external membrane receptor. Based on this observation, a role for eicosanoids as possible intercellular messengers in the C.N.S. is discussed.
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