Abstract
Glutamate is an excitatory transmitter released from neurons. It communicates information rapidly by activating receptors in other neurons (1). Physiologic concentrations of glutamate are 1 μM extracellularly and several millimolar intracellularly. Higher extracellular levels lead to cytotoxicity in the neurons (2). Glutamate exerts its excitatory action via ligand-gated ion channels to enhance Na+/Ca++conductance. There are two types of glutamate receptors: ionotropic and metabotropic. The ionotropic receptors are comprised of three families with intrinsic cation permeable channels (Na+and K+): N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), 2-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate (AMPA), and kainate. The latter two families are known as the nonNMDA receptors (3,4). The metabotropic receptors, on the other hand, are G protein-coupled subunits, which release secondary messengers in the cytoplasm or influence ion channels through the release of G-protein subunits within the membrane (4). Vesicles in presynaptic terminals release glutamate via a calcium-dependent mechanism. Glutamate released from pre-synaptic structures is not enzymatically degraded. Instead, it is taken up by transporters, which directly regulate extracellular glutamate concentrations and limit excitotoxicity (5,6).
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© 2002 Humana Press Inc.
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Afzal, A., Afzal, M., Jones, A., Armstrong, D. (2002). Rapid Determination of Glutamate Using HPLC Technology. In: Armstrong, D. (eds) Oxidative Stress Biomarkers and Antioxidant Protocols. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 186. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-173-6:111
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-173-6:111
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-0-89603-850-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-173-2
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