The Effect of Glutamate Receptor Agonists on Mouse Retinal Astrocyte [Ca²⁺]_i

Figure 2

Effect of ionotropic glutamate receptor agonists AMPA and NMDA on retinal astrocytes in situ. (a) Representative trace showing fura-2 fluorescence ratio of an astrocyte treated twice with 10 μM AMPA followed by 10 μM ATP. The astrocyte showed a small, but discernable, response to both treatments with 10 μM AMPA and a larger response to 10 μM ATP. (b) The mean response elicited by AMPA was not significantly different from baseline, but the mean response elicited by ATP was. (c) Representative trace showing fura-2 fluorescence ratio of an astrocyte treated twice with 10 μM NMDA followed by 10 μM ATP. The astrocyte responded to ATP, but not NMDA. (d) Mean response elicited by NMDA application was not significantly different from baseline, while mean response elicited by ATP was. Responses are reported as the average peak change () from baseline () during a 3 min period following 30 s agonist applications. Error bars are SEM, = number of retinas studied, ns: not significant; at α = 0.05 as determined by Dunn’s multiple comparisons test following Kruskal Wallis ANOVA.

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