We observed nuclear swelling in glutamate (Glu)-treated astrocytes that was concomitant with but independent of astrocytic cell swelling. We confirmed Glu-induced nuclear swelling with nuclei isolated from astrocytes. Ammonia is metabolically related to Glu and could induce a nuclear swelling in intact astrocytes but shrinkage in isolated nuclei. Other compounds such as glutamine, aspartate, ta...

As the major neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), excessive extracellular glutamate (Glu) can activate the Glu receptors and neuronal calcium (Ca2+) overload, then produce neurotoxicity, which is a common pathway for neuronal injury or death, and is associated with acute and chronic neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, it has been a therapeutic strategy to investiga...

Organophosphate-induced brain damage is an irreversible neuronal injury, likely because there is no pharmacological treatment to prevent or block secondary damage processes. The presence of free glutamate (Glu) in the brain has a substantial role in the propagation and maintenance of organophosphate-induced seizures, thus contributing to the secondary brain damage. This report describes for the...

Glu (glutamate), the excitatory transmitter at the main signalling pathway in the retina, is critically involved in changes in the protein repertoire through the activation of signalling cascades, which regulate protein synthesis at transcriptional and translational levels. Activity-dependent differential gene expression by Glu is related to the activation of ionotropic and metabotropic Glu rec...

The effect of 3,3-difluoroglutamate (F2Glu) on the reaction catalyzed by rat liver folypolyglutamate synthetase was investigated. F2Glu was a potent, concentration-dependent inhibitor of poly(gamma-glutamylation) using [3H]Glu and either methotrexate (4-NH2-10-CH3PteGlu) or tetrahydrofolate as substrates. It was determined that F2Glu acted as an alternate substrate, but in contrast to the previ...

Inflammation-induced alterations in central nervous system (CNS) metabolism have focused on glutamate. At excessive concentrations, glutamate is toxic to glia and neurons, and inflammatory cytokines have been shown to influence glutamate turnover by blocking glutamate reuptake and increasing glutamate release. Increased glutamate has also been found in depression, a disorder associated with inc...

Glutamate transport across the plasma membrane of neurons and glia is powered by the transmembrane electrochemical gradients for sodium, potassium, and pH, but there is controversy over the number of Na+ cotransported with glutamate. The stoichiometry of glutamate transporters is important because it determines a lower limit to the extracellular glutamate concentration, [glu]o, in both normal a...

The objective of the study was to evaluate effects glutamine and glutamate (Gln/Glu) on growth performance immune response nursery pigs fed different digestible lysine content. Two hundred sixteen piglets, weaned at 21 days old, were assigned a randomized block design according their initial body weight (BW), in 2 × factorial arrangement with two levels (control-lys low-lys) Gln/Glu (0 12 g kg-...

l-Glutamate (Glu) is the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system, and it is involved in most aspects of normal brain function, including cognition, memory and learning, plasticity, and motor movement. Although microdialysis techniques have been used to study Glu, the slow temporal resolution of the technique may be inadequate to properly examine tonic and phasic...

Gabapentin (GBP), a GABA analog that may also affect glutamate (Glu) production, can normalize GABA and Glu tone during early abstinence from alcohol, effectively treating withdrawal symptoms and facilitating recovery. Using in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we tested the degree to which daily GBP alters regional brain GABA and Glu levels in short-term abstinent alcohol-dependent individ...