Arachidonic acid blocks gap junctions between retinal horizontal cells.

Horizontal cells in turtle retinae are electrically coupled via gap junctions, and the input resistances of the cells are too low to be measured. However, intracellular injection of arachidonic acid into horizontal cells caused great increases in the input resistances of the cells, and the cells could be easily polarized by intracellular current injection. The injection of arachidonic acid also caused decrease in light responses of horizontal cells to surround illumination, and blocked dye-couplings with Lucifer Yellow CH. On the other hand, injection of a lipoxygenase inhibitor or a guanylate cyclase inhibitor into horizontal cells suppressed the decoupling effect of arachidonic acid. These findings suggest that lipoxygenase metabolites of arachidonic acid block gap junctions by activating guanylate cyclase.