Summary
L-glutamate (L-glu) is major excitatory neurotransmitter in mammalian central nervous system. Besides short term effects on neuronal activity, L-glu affects also long term neuronal and glial responses. Neuromodulatory function of L-glu may in part be dependent on its ability to activate transcription factors — proteins regulating gene expression through interaction with specific regulatory sequences located in promoter and enhancer gene regions. This paper reviews recent data suggesting that L-glu can selectively stimulate genes encoding transcription factors like zif/268 and fos and jun gene families, as well as the factors themselves both in neurons and astroglia cultured in vitro and brain cells in vivo.
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Kaczmarek, L. Glutamate-evoked gene expression in brain cells — Focus on transcription factors. Amino Acids 7, 245–254 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00807700
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00807700