Glutamate, glutamate receptors, and downstream signaling pathways.

ABSTRACT: Glutamate is a nonessential amino acid, a major bioenergetic substrate for proliferating normal and neoplastic cells, and an excitatory neurotransmitter that is actively involved in biosynthetic, bioenergetic, metabolic, and oncogenic signaling pathways. Glutamate signaling activates a family of receptors consisting of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) and ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs), both of which have been implicated in chronic disabling brain disorders such as Schizophrenia and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and multiple sclerosis. In this review, we discuss the structural and functional relationship of mGluRs and iGluRs and their downstream signaling pathways. The three groups of mGluRs, the associated second messenger systems, and subsequ

SUBMITTER: Willard SS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3805900 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature