Selective inhibition of glial versus neuronal uptake of L-glutamic acid by SITS.

SITS, an inhibitor of anion exchange, was found to be a potent and selective inhibitor of L-glutamic acid uptake by cultured LRM55 glioma cells and rat brain astrocytes. Synaptosomal uptake of glutamate was relatively insensitive to inhibition by SITS. This differential effect indicates that the glutamate transport system in glia differs from that in neurons and that SITS may provide a tool for investigating the exclusive neuronal transport and metabolism of L-glutamic acid.