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Is Aspartate an Excitatory Neurotransmitter?
Published Web Location
https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.0524-15.2015Abstract
Recent evidence has resurrected the idea that the amino acid aspartate, a selective NMDA receptor agonist, is a neurotransmitter. Using a mouse that lacks the glutamate-selective vesicular transporter VGLUT1, we find that glutamate alone fully accounts for the activation of NMDA receptors at excitatory synapses in the hippocampus. This excludes a role for aspartate and, by extension, a recently proposed role for the sialic acid transporter sialin in excitatory transmission.
Significance statement
It has been proposed that the amino acid aspartate serves as a neurotransmitter. Although aspartate is a selective agonist for NMDA receptors, we find that glutamate alone fully accounts for neurotransmission at excitatory synapses in the hippocampus, excluding a role for aspartate.Many UC-authored scholarly publications are freely available on this site because of the UC's open access policies. Let us know how this access is important for you.
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