The neurotoxic effect of glutamate in cultured mouse mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons was investigated. Neuron-rich cell cultures were prepared from 13-14-day-old fetal mouse ventral mesencephalic tissue. Cultures were exposed to glutamate for 10 min and evaluated for glutamate neurotoxicity (GNT) 18-24 hr later by tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunostaining, microtubule associated protein-2 (MAP2) immunostaining, and radiolabeled dopamine uptake assay. In glutamate-exposed cultures, the number of TH-positive neurons and the level of dopamine uptake were reduced to 40% (35-45%) and 50% (47-52%), respectively, of control cultures. The number of MAP2-positive neurons was also reduced to 47%, indicating that the GNT was not restricted or selective to dopaminergic neurons. It is concluded that GNT was mediated by the N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor from the following observations: 1) GNT was completely blocked by MK-801, an NMDA receptor antagonist; 2) NMDA itself was as toxic as glutamate; 3) 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX), an antagonist of the alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid/kainate (AMPA/KA) receptor, did not block GNT; 4) kainate did not show neurotoxicity at a low concentration; and 5) two modulators of the NMDA receptor, 7-chlorokynurenic acid and magnesium, were effective in blocking GNT. Protective effects of phorbol myristate acetate, a tumor promoter, and gangliosides (GM1 and GT1b) on GNT were also demonstrated. Possible interactions between GNT and several protein kinase cascades were also investigated. Forskolin, an activator of adenyl cyclase and protein kinase A, showed some protective effect on GNT. But okadaic acid, an inhibitor of phosphatases, and genistein, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, did not show any protective effect. These results suggest that 1) glutamate is capable of causing neuronal death in the substantia nigra; 2) GNT on dopaminergic neurons is mainly mediated by the NMDA receptor under the conditions of our study; 3) protein kinase C translocation is a key mechanism of GNT; and 4) there is an interplay of a signal transduction system in the pathomechanism of GNT.