GDNF and neublastin protect against NMDA-induced excitotoxicity in hippocampal slice cultures

The potential neuroprotective effects of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and neublastin (NBN) against NMDA-induced excitotoxicity were examined in hippocampal brain slice cultures. Recombinant human GDNF (25-100ng/ml) or NBN, in medium conditioned by growth of transfected, NBN-producing HiB5 cells, were added to slice cultures Ih before exposure to 10 muM NMDA for 48h. Neuronal cell death was monitored, before and during the NMDA exposure, by densitometric measurements of propidium iodide (PI) uptake and loss of Nissl staining. Both the addition of rhGDNF and NBN-containing medium significantly reduced the NMDA-induced PI uptake in the CAI (P < 0.01), suggesting neuroprotective effects of these factors, beyond their well-known trophic effects on dopaminergic neurons. NeuroReport 11:4069-4073 (C) 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.