Interaction between glycine and glutamate in the development of spontaneous motility in chick embryos

In this study we investigated whether also glycine fulfils the function as co-activator in glutamatergic activation of NMDA receptors in the neuronal apparatus of spontaneous motility in chick embryos. The successive application of glycine (5 or 10 mg/kg egg weight (e.w.) and glutamate (15 mg/kg e.w.) in a 10 min interval significantly increased the activation of spontaneous motility of 17-day-old chick embryos in comparison with the effect of glutamate alone. This effect did not depend on the order of application of the drugs. In 13-day-old embryos, glycine was ineffective in both doses. It is concluded from these results that the modulatory effect of glycine is evidently a later developmental acquisition (after day 15 of incubation) in the embryogenesis of NMDA-ergic activation of spontaneous motility in chick embryos similarly as glycinergic inhibition.