PURPOSE Under physiological conditions, levels of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate within the retina are regulated by retinal glutamate transporters to prevent toxic accumulation. Alterations in this glutamate buffering have been implicated in retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death. We quantified the changes in the level of glutamate transporter mRNA in a model of acute rat optic nerve inju...

Astrocytes remove glutamate from the synaptic cleft via specific transporters, and impaired glutamate reuptake may promote excitotoxic neuronal injury. In a model of viral encephalomyelitis caused by neuroadapted Sindbis virus (NSV), mice develop acute paralysis and spinal motor neuron degeneration inhibited by the AMPA receptor antagonist, NBQX. To investigate disrupted glutamate homeostasis i...

Transient focal cerebral ischemia leads to extensive neuronal damage in cerebral cortex and striatum. Normal functioning of glutamate transporters clears the synaptically released glutamate to prevent excitotoxic neuronal death. This study evaluated the functional role of the glial (GLT-1) and neuronal (EAAC1) glutamate transporters in mediating ischemic neuronal damage after transient middle c...

To verify whether altered glial glutamate uptake contributes to the reduced efficacy of glutamatergic transmission reported in the prefrontal cortex of schizophrenics, we studied the expression of GLT-1, the transporter responsible for most glutamate transport, in autoptic samples of prefrontal cortex using real time quantitative RT-PCR, immunocytochemistry, and functional assays. GLT-1 mRNA le...

In the retina, the glutamate transporter GLAST is expressed in Müller cells, whereas the glutamate transporter GLT-1 is found only in cones and various types of bipolar cells. To investigate the functional role of this differential distribution of glutamate transporters, we have analyzed GLAST and GLT-1 mutant mice. In GLAST-deficient mice, the electroretinogram b-wave and oscillatory potential...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by memory loss and cognitive dysfunction. Aquaporin-4 (AQP4), which is primarily expressed in astrocytes, is the major water channel expressed in the central nervous system (CNS). This protein plays an important role in water and ion homeostasis in the normal brain and in various brain pathological condit...

Excessive extracellular glutamate after traumatic brain injury (TBI) contributes to excitotoxic cell death and likely to post-traumatic epilepsy. Glutamate transport is the only known mechanism of extracellular glutamate clearance, and glutamate transporter 1 (GLT-1) is the major glutamate transporter of the mammalian brain. We tested, by immunoblot, in the rat lateral fluid percussion injury T...

Glutamate transporters (GluTs) maintain a low ambient level of glutamate in the central nervous system (CNS) and shape the activation of glutamate receptors at synapses. Nevertheless, the mechanisms that regulate the trafficking and localization of transporters near sites of glutamate release are poorly understood. Here, we examined the subcellular distribution and dynamic remodeling of the pre...

Tire-road friction is estimated using the wheel-slip computed from standard sensor signals. A parametric model is estimated using an adaptive lter supported by a fault detector. Results from extensive eld trials are presented. An approach to estimate the tire{road friction during normal drive using only the wheel slip, that is, the relative diierence in wheel velocities, is presented. The drive...