Phylogenetic distribution of [3H]kainic acid receptor binding sites in neuronal tissue

The phylogenetic distribution of specific binding sites for kainic acid was determined in 14 species including invertebrates and vertebrates. The highest level of binding was observed in brains of the frog (Xenopus laevis), followed by the spiny dogfish (Heterodontus francisci), the goldfish (Carasius auratus) and the chick (Gallus domesticus). Although significant specific binding was noted in some of the lowest forms tested (e.g. Hydra littoralis), this was not a consistent observation in the invertebrates. In most cases, specific binding to both high and low affinity sites was detected; notable exceptions were the cockroach brain (Periplaneta americana), which had negligible high affinity binding, and the crayfish brain (Procambarus) which had negligible low affinity binding. In the spiny dogfish, the smooth dogfish and the chick, the highest level of binding occurred in cerebellum with less in the forebrain and the least in the medulla; in the mammalian species, the highest level of binding occurred in the forebrain structures with less in the cerebellum and least in the medulla. Eadie plots of the saturation isotherms for [3H]kainic acid revealed similar kinetics of binding for frog whole brain, rat forebrain and human parietal cortex with two apparent populations of binding sites: KD1 = 25--50 nM and KD2 = 3--14 nM. While binding in the spiny dogfish forebrain and human caudate nucleus occurred exclusively at a high affinity component, the cerebella of chick, rat and man exhibited only a low affinity binding site. In the 3 species studied most extensively, frog, rat and man, unlabeled kainic acid was the most potent inhibitor of the specific binding of [3H]-kainic acid. L-Glutamic acid was 20--20-fold less potent than kainic acid, and D-glutamic acid was 4--2500-fold less potent than its L-isomer. Reduction of the isopropylene side chain of kainic acid to form dihydrokainic acid decreased the affinity of the derivative 115--30,000-fold. Hill coefficients derived from these displacement curves were 1.0 for unlabeled kainic acid but approximately 0.5 for L- and D-glutamic acids and dihydrokainic acid, which is compatible with negative cooperativity. In summary, these studies demonstrated a widespread distribution throughout the animal kingdom of specific binding sites for kainic acid in neural tissue; the characteristics of these receptor sites are remarkably similar from primitive vertebrates to man.