NMDA-induced nitric oxide generation and CREB activation in central nervous system is dependent on eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase

The NMDA receptor is crucial to several functions in CNS physiology and some of its effects are mediated by promoting nitric oxide production from L-arginine and activation of signaling pathways and the transcription factor CREB. Our previous work demonstrated in retinal cells that increasing intracellular free L-arginine levels directly correlates to nitric oxide (NO) generation and can be promoted by protein synthesis inhibition and increase of free L-arginine concentration. Eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase (eEF2K), a calcium/calmodulindependent kinase, is also known to be activated by NMDA receptors leading to protein synthesis inhibition. Here we explored how does eEF2K participate in NMDA-induced NO signaling. We found that when this enzyme is inhibited, NMDA loses its ability to promote NO synthesis. On the other hand, when NO synthesis is increased by protein synthesis inhibition with cycloheximide or addition of exogenous L-arginine, eEF2K has no participation, showcasing a specific link between this enzyme and NMDA-induced NO signaling. We have previously shown that inhibition of the canonical NO signaling pathway (guanylyl cyclase/cGMP/cGK) blocks CREB activation by glutamate in retinal cells. Interestingly, pharmacological inhibition of eEF2K fully prevents CREB activation by NMDA, once again demonstrating the importance of eEF2K in NMDA receptor signaling. In summary, we demonstrated here a new role for eEF2K, directly controlling NMDA-dependent nitrergic signaling and modulating L-arginine availability in neurons, which can potentially be a new target for the study of physiological and pathological processes involving NMDA receptors in the central nervous system.