Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Glutamate receptor
Summary
Glutamate receptors are synaptic and non synaptic receptors located primarily on the membranes of neuronal and glial cells. Glutamate (the conjugate base of glutamic acid) is abundant in the human body, but particularly in the nervous system and especially prominent in the human brain where it is the body's most prominent neurotransmitter, the brain's main excitatory neurotransmitter, and also the precursor for GABA, the brain's main inhibitory neurotransmitter. Glutamate receptors are responsible for the glutamate-mediated postsynaptic excitation of neural cells, and are important for neural communication, memory formation, learning, and regulation.
Glutamate receptors are implicated in a number of neurological conditions. Their central role in excitotoxicity and prevalence in the central nervous system has been linked or speculated to be linked to many neurodegenerative diseases, and several other conditions have been further linked to glutamate receptor gene mutations or receptor autoantigen/antibody activity.
Glutamate (neurotransmitter)
Glutamate is the most prominent neurotransmitter in the body, and is the main excitatory neurotransmitter, being present in over 50% of nervous tissue. Glutamate was initially discovered to be a neurotransmitter in insect studies in the early 1960s.
Glutamate is also used by the brain to synthesize GABA (γ-Aminobutyric acid), the main inhibitory neurotransmitter of the mammalian central nervous system. GABA plays a role in regulating neuronal excitability throughout the nervous system and is also directly responsible for the regulation of muscle tone in humans.
Mammalian glutamate receptors are classified based on their pharmacology. However, glutamate receptors in other organisms have different pharmacology, and therefore these classifications do not hold. One of the major functions of glutamate receptors appears to be the modulation of synaptic plasticity, a property of the brain thought to be vital for memory and learning.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Related courses (12)
NX-450: Computational neurosciences: biophysics
The course introduces students to a synthesis of modern neuroscience and state-of-the-art data management, modelling and computing technologies with a focus on the biophysical level.
BIO-480: Neuroscience: from molecular mechanisms to disease
The goal of the course is to guide students through the essential aspects of molecular neuroscience and neurodegenerative diseases. The student will gain the ability to dissect the molecular basis of
BIO-499: Neural circuits of motivated behaviors
Motivated behaviors fulfil the basic physiological needs of animals and enable their safety. In this course, you will learn about the neuronal circuits that detect potential dangers in the environment