Inhibition of Rho signaling prevents GLT1 loss in in vitro. (a–e)
Hippocampal astrocytes were treated with vehicle, or thrombin (1
U/mL) in the presence or absence of increasing doses of ROCK
inhibitors Y-27632 and Fasudil, for 24 h. (a) Thrombin treatment
significantly increased phosphorylation of MYPT1 (pMYPT1). (b–d)
Exposure to thrombin resulted in a significant decrease in GLT1
(b, c) with no significant change in GLAST (b, d). Inhibition of
ROCK with Y-27632 or Fasudil prevented the decrease in GLT1 (c),
but not GLAST (d) caused by thrombin. (e) Thrombin treatment
significantly decreased glutamate uptake. Inhibition of ROCK
with Y-27632 or Fasudil, in the presence of thrombin
significantly increased glutamate uptake compared to thrombin
treatment alone. *p < 0.05,
**p < 0.01 compared to control;
#p < 0.05 compared to
thrombin alone (n = 7–12 per experiment, each
performed in duplicate or triplicate).