Neuronal glutamate transporters control reciprocal inhibition and gain modulation in D1 medium spiny neurons.

Understanding the function of glutamate transporters has broad implications for explaining how neurons integrate information and relay it through complex neuronal circuits. Most of what is currently known about glutamate transporters, specifically their ability to maintain glutamate homeostasis and limit glutamate diffusion away from the synaptic cleft, is based on studies of glutamate transporters. By contrast, little is known about the functional implications of glutamate transporters.

Estimating the glutamate transporter surface density in distinct sub-cellular compartments of mouse hippocampal astrocytes.

Glutamate transporters preserve the spatial specificity of synaptic transmission by limiting glutamate diffusion away from the synaptic cleft, and prevent excitotoxicity by keeping the extracellular concentration of glutamate at low nanomolar levels. Glutamate transporters are abundantly expressed in astrocytes, and previous estimates have been obtained about their surface expression in astrocytes of the rat hippocampus and cerebellum. Analogous estimates for the mouse hippocampus are currently not available.