| First Author | Herring BE | Year | 2015 |
| Journal | J Neurosci | Volume | 35 |
| Issue | 28 | Pages | 10168-71 |
| PubMed ID | 26180193 | Mgi Jnum | J:225816 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5694529 | Doi | 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0524-15.2015 |
| Citation | Herring BE, et al. (2015) Is Aspartate an Excitatory Neurotransmitter?. J Neurosci 35(28):10168-71 |
| abstractText | 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. |
