title: Glial glutamate transporters: new actors in brain signaling.
abstract: Glutamate, the main excitatory amino acid in the vertebrate brain, is critically involved in most of the physiological functions of the central nervous system. It has traditionally been assumed that glutamate triggers a wide array of signaling cascades through the activation of specific membrane receptors. The extracellular levels are tightly regulated to prevent neurotoxic insults. Electrogenic Na(+)-dependent glial glutamate transporters remove the bulk of the neurotransmitter from the synaptic cleft. An exquisitely ordered coupling between glutamatergic neurons and surrounding glia cells is fundamental for excitatory transmission. The glutamate/glutamine and astrocyte/neuron lactate shuttles provide the biochemical framework of this compulsory association. In this context, recent advances show that glial glutamate transporters act as signal transducers that regulate the expression of proteins involved in their compartmentalization with neurons in the so-called tripartite synapse.
authors: Departamento de Genética y Biología Molecular, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Apartado Postal 14-740, México D.F. 07000, México.
authors: Esther
authors: E
authors: López-Bayghen
authors: Arturo
authors: A
authors: Ortega
mesh_terms: D027322:Amino Acid Transport System X-AG / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D027341:Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D027322:Amino Acid Transport System X-AG; D027341:Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 1; C493394:SLC1A3 protein, human; D018698:Glutamic Acid