Glutamate transporters (GluTs) prevent the accumulation of glutamate and influence the occupancy of receptors at synapses. The ability of extrasynaptic NMDA receptors and metabotropic glutamate receptors to participate in signaling is tightly regulated by GluT activity. Astrocytes express the highest density of GluTs and dominate clearance away from these receptors; synapses that are not associ...

Background: The areas of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) with a high density of estrogen receptors are involved in cardiovascular regulation and send axonal projections to the rostroventrolateral medulla (RVLM). We aimed to find the contribution of the RVLM to cardiovascular responses elicited by glutamate microinjection into the BST. Methods: Experiments were done in α-ch...

Glutamate is the proposed neurotransmitter of baroreceptor afferents at the level of the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS). Blockade of ionotropic glutamate receptors with kynurenic acid blocks the arterial baroreflex but, paradoxically, does not abolish the response to exogenous glutamate. This study tested the hypothesis that exogenous glutamate in the NTS activates both ionotropic and meta...

mammalian CNS, the actions of which are regulated by ionotropic glutamate (iGlu) and metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGlu). mGlu receptors are a family of G-protein-coupled receptors comprising eight members, refered to as mGlu1-8. Group I receptors include mGlu1 and mGlu5, which when expressed are coupled via Gq to phospholipase C. Group II (mGlu2 and mGlu3) and group III (mGlu4,6,7,8) recep...

Drug addiction has developed to a social illness. Changes in glutamate transmission have been recorded by the repeated administration of addictive drugs into VTA. In this investigation, In vivo microdialysis was used to study the effects of morphine on glutamate release from the ventral tegmentum area (VTA) in freely moving rats. Rats were anesthetized with chloral hydrate (350 mg/kg, i.p.) and...

Introduction The amino acid ],-glutamate is the principal excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. Through its interaction with a broad variety of receptors present at the surface of responding cells, 1.-glutamate has been proposed to be involved in learning activity and memory acquisition, but also in neurotoxicity and diverse neurological disorders. Distinct families of glut...