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Glutamate‐mediated neuronal–glial transmission
Author(s) -
Verkhratsky Alexei,
Kirchhoff Frank
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of anatomy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.932
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1469-7580
pISSN - 0021-8782
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2007.00734.x
Subject(s) - glutamate receptor , neuroscience , metabotropic glutamate receptor , ionotropic effect , biology , metabotropic glutamate receptor 6 , neuroglia , metabotropic glutamate receptor 7 , metabotropic glutamate receptor 8 , microglia , metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 , glutamatergic , astrocyte , receptor , central nervous system , biochemistry , immunology , inflammation
The brain is the most complex organ of the human body. It is composed of several highly specialized and heterogeneous populations of cells, represented by neurones (e.g. motoneurons, projection neurons or interneurons), and glia represented by astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and microglia. In recent years there have been numerous studies demonstrating close bidirectional communication of neurons and glia at structural and functional levels. In particular, the excitatory transmitter glutamate has been shown to evoke a variety of responses in astrocytes and oligodendrocytes in the healthy as well as the diseased brain. Here we overview the multitude of glutamate sensing molecules expressed in glia and describe some general experiments which have been performed to identify the glutamate‐responsive molecules, i.e. the ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors as well as the glutamate transporters. We also discuss a transgenic mouse model that permits detailed and specific investigations of the role of glial glutamate receptors.