Glutamate uptake in Purkinje cells in rat cerebellar slices

We have described how whole-cell clamping of neurons in brain slices has allowed a characterization of postsynaptic transporters, probably a mixture of EAAC1 and EAAT4, in cerebellar Purkinje cells. Similar experiments have been carried out on transporters (mainly GLAST) in cerebellar Bergmann glia, and have revealed an uptake current occurring as these carriers remove glutamate released at the parallel fiber synapses. As more transporters are cloned and their regulation is characterized in heterologous expression systems, it will be increasingly important to use methods similar to those outlined above to investigate to what extent the behavior of the carriers is similar in situ in the nervous system.