Asparagine as Precursor for Transmitter Aspartate in Corticostriatal Fibres

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Abstract
The role of asparagine as precursor for the neurotransmitter aspartate was investigated in rat striatum in vitro.14C-asparagine incubated with striatal slices is converted to a great extent to 14C-aspartate which is released in a calcium-dependent manner by high KCl. Furthermore, a frontoparietal cortex ablation of two weeks produces a decrease of more than 70% in the striatal release of newly synthetized 14C-aspartate, whereas the striatal GABA release is unaffected. This suggests that asparagine is a possible pre-cursor in vitro for transmitter aspartate in the striatum. This reaction is dependent on intact corticostriatal fibres.