The Time Course of Glutamate in the Synaptic Cleft

Abstract

The peak concentration and rate of clearance of neurotransmitter from the synaptic cleft are important determinants of synaptic function, yet the neurotransmitter concentration time course is unknown at synapses in the brain. The time course of free glutamate in the cleft was estimated by kinetic analysis of the displacement of a rapidly dissociating competitive antagonist from N -methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors during synaptic transmission. Glutamate peaked at 1.1 millimolar and decayed with a time constant of 1.2 milliseconds at cultured hippocampal synapses. This time course implies that transmitter saturates postsynaptic NMDA receptors. However, glutamate dissociates much more rapidly from α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors. Thus, the time course of free glutamate predicts that dissociation contributes to the decay of the AMPA receptor-mediated postsynaptic current.

Keywords

AMPA receptorSilent synapseNMDA receptorGlutamate receptorNeurotransmissionPostsynaptic potentialNeuroscienceNeurotransmitterSynaptic cleftPostsynaptic densityChemistryLong-term depressionNeurotransmitter receptorBiophysicsBiologyReceptorBiochemistry

MeSH Terms

2-Aminoadipic AcidAction PotentialsAnimalsCellsCulturedGlutamatesGlutamic AcidHippocampusModelsNeurologicalNeuronsNeurotransmitter AgentsPiperazinesRatsReceptorsN-Methyl-D-AspartateSynapsesTime Factors

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Publication Info

Year: 1992
Type: article
Volume: 258
Issue: 5087
Pages: 1498-1501
Citations: 1082
Access: Closed

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APA Style

                            
                                
                                    John D. Clements, 
                                
                                    Robin A. J. Lester, 
                                
                                    Gang Tong
                                
                                et al.
                            
                            (1992). 
                            The Time Course of Glutamate in the Synaptic Cleft. 
                            Science
                            , 258
                            (5087)
                            , 1498-1501.
                            https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1359647
                        

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1126/science.1359647
PMID: 1359647

Data Quality

Data completeness: 81%