EAAT

Transmembrane proteins involved in the removal of extracellular glutamate

General Information

Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system. After the release of glutamate from synaptic vesicles into the synaptic cleft during neurotransmission, excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) remove extracellular glutamate to avoid excitotoxic levels.
Five EAATs with differential expression patterns have been described so far: EAAT 1, also referred to as GLAST and SLC1A3, has neuroprotective potential following ischemia and is expressed by reactive astrocytes and activated microglia. EAAT 2 (GLT-1, SLC1A2) is the most abundant and primarily expressed in astrocytes. EAAT 3 / SLC1A1 is expressed in neurons and has also been shown to be involved in the uptake of extracelluar cysteine. EAAT 4 shows weak expression in the forebrain and high levels in Purkinje cells of the cerebellum. EAAT 5 has only been described for humans and is primarily expressed in the retina.