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GABA release from mouse axonal growth cones

Xiao-Bing Gao and Anthony N. van den Pol

1. Using developing hypothalamic neurons from transgenic mice that express high levels of green fluorescent protein in growing axons, and an outside-out patch from mature neuronal membranes that contain neurotransmitter receptors as a sensitive detector, we found that GABA is released by a vesicular mechanism from the growth cones of developing axons prior to synapse formation.

2. A low level of GABA release occurs spontaneously from the growth cone, and this is substantially increased by evoked action potentials.

3. Neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine can enhance protein kinase C (PKC) activity even prior to synapse formation; PKC activation caused a substantial increase in spontaneous GABA release from the growth cone, probably acting at the axon terminal.

4. These data indicate that GABA is secreted from axons during a stage of neuronal development when GABA is excitatory, and that neuromodulators could alter GABA release from the growing axon, potentially enabling other developing neurons of different transmitter phenotype to modulate the early actions of GABA.

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