The uptake of γ-aminobutyrate by organotypic cultures of chick spinal cord

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Abstract
1. Explants of spinal cord from 10-day chick embryos maintained for up to 16 days in culture rapidly accumulated γ-amino[3H]butyrate when incubated at 25°C or 36°C in a medium containing 50nm-γ-aminobutyrate. The mechanism of the uptake process has many of the properties of an active-transport system: it is Na+-dependent, temperature-sensitive, inhibited by ouabain, and displays saturation kinetics. The apparent Km for γ-aminobutyrate is 1.7×10−5m, and Vmax. is 33pmol/min per g. 2. The rate of accumulation of γ-amino[3H]butyrate in cultures between the ages of 3 and 16 days was remarkably constant and was not related to the morphological maturity of the spinal-cord explants. 3. The present demonstration in spinal-cord explants of an active transport system for γ-aminobutyrate, already established for non-cultured nervous tissue, means that nervous-tissue culture can provide a convenient model for studying uptake processes in the central nervous system.

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