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The Role of Excitatory Amino Acid Transporters in Cerebral Ischemia

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Abstract

Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter that plays a major role in the pathogenesis of ischemia brain injury. The regulation of glutamate neurotransmission is carried out by excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) that act through reuptake of glutamate into cells. EAATs may also release glutamate into the extracellular space in a calcium-independent manner during ischemia and dysfunction of EAATs is specifically implicated in the pathology of cerebral ischemia. Recent studies show that up-regulation of EAAT2 provides neuroprotection during ischemic insult. This review summarizes current knowledge regarding the role of EAATs in cerebral ischemia.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation (30670796, 30930093 and 30700255) of China. We sincerely thank Doctor Yan Qu for his critical review and in-depth comments in preparation of this manuscript.

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  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Xi Jing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710032, China

    Xiao-dong Chao & Zhou Fei

  2. Department of Cell Biology/Cell Engineering Research Centre, Cancer Biology of State Key Laboratory and State Key Discipline of Cell Biology, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710032, China

    Fei Fei

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  1. Xiao-dong Chao
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Correspondence to Zhou Fei.

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Chao, Xd., Fei, F. & Fei, Z. The Role of Excitatory Amino Acid Transporters in Cerebral Ischemia. Neurochem Res 35, 1224–1230 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-010-0178-3

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