Into great silence without VGLUT3.
The vesicular glutamate transporters VGLUT1 and VGLUT2 fill synaptic vesicles with glutamate, an essential prerequisite for glutamatergic transmission in the CNS. In contrast, the third isoform, VGLUT3, is not confined to glutamatergic neurons, and its function has remained enigmatic. In this issue of Neuron, Seal et al. show that mice lacking VGLUT3 are profoundly deaf and exhibit nonconvulsive seizures.
Ahnert-Hilger
Gudrun
G
AG Functional Cell Biology, Institute for Integrative Neuroanatomie, Center for Anatomy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
Jahn
Reinhard
R
D026922:Amino Acid Transport Systems, Acidic / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D012640:Seizures / Q000235:genetics*
D026922:Amino Acid Transport Systems, Acidic; C504941:Slc17a8 protein, mouse