Glial glutamate transporters maintain one-to-one relationship at the climbing fiber-Purkinje cell synapse by preventing glutamate spillover.

ABSTRACT: A glial glutamate transporter, GLAST, is expressed abundantly in Bergmann glia and plays a major role in glutamate uptake at the excitatory synapses in cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs). It has been reported that a higher percentage of PCs in GLAST-deficient mice are multiply innervated by climbing fibers (CFs) than in the wild-type (WT) mice, and that CF-mediated EPSCs with small amplitude and slow rise time, designated as atypical slow CF-EPSCs, are observed in these mice. To clarify the mechanism(s) underlying the generation of these atypical CF-EPSCs, we used (2S,3S)-3-[3-(4-methoxybenzoylamino)benzyloxy]aspartate (PMB-TBOA), an inhibitor of glial glutamate transporters. After the application of PMB-TBOA, slow-rising CF-EPSCs were newly detected in WT mice, and their rise and decay kinet

SUBMITTER: Takayasu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6674041 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature