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Using Enzyme-based Biosensors to Measure Tonic and Phasic Glutamate in Alzheimer's Mouse Models
Published on: May 3, 2017
The nagging question of the function of N-acetylaspartylglutamate
1Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, Massachusetts 02178, USA. jcoyle@warren.med.harvard.edu
Abstract:
N-Acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG) is a neuropeptide found in millimolar concentrations in brain that is localized to subpopulations of glutamatergic, cholinergic, GABAergic, and noradrenergic neuronal systems. NAAG is released upon depolarization by a Ca(2+)-dependent process and is an agonist at mGluR3 receptors and an antagonist at NMDA receptors. NAAG is catabolized to N-acetylaspartate and glutamate primarily by glutamate carboxypeptidase II, which is expressed on the extracellular surface of astrocytes. The levels of NAAG and the activity of carboxypeptidase II are altered in a regionally specific fashion in several neuropsychiatric disorders.
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