EVIDENCE FOR THE HETEROGENEITY OF L-2,4-DIAMINOBUTYRIC ACID UPTAKE IN RAT CORTEX

The uptake of L-[³H]DABA by rat cerebral cortex slices was studied. Analysis of the kinetic data obtained provides evidence that DABA entry is mediated by both high and low affinity carriers. When cortical slices were incubated in the presence of equimolar [³H]DABA and [¹⁴C]GABA the ratio of entry of the two radionuclides was found to depend upon the loading concentration. The specificity of the uptake of 1 μM and 1 mM-L-DABA was examined: GABA and DABA were relatively potent inhibitors of 1 μM-DABA uptake whereas an equal concentration of histidine did not produce significant inhibition. In contrast, DABA and histidine were markedly more potent as inhibitors of 1 mM-DABA uptake than was GABA. It is concluded from these experiments that L-DABA is transported into cortical slices by a carrier which has high affinities for both DABA and GABA and by a second lower affinity carrier which prefers DABA as a substrate to GABA. On the basis of a comparison of the effects of inhibitors on [³H]DABA and [³H]GABA uptake it is estimated that approx 26% of DABA uptake at 1 μM does not occur by the high affinity carrier whereas at 1 mM-DABA this proportion rises to 62–67%.