GABA and Glutamate Uptake and Metabolism in Retinal Glial (Müller) Cells
Open Access
- 1 January 2013
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Frontiers Media SA in Frontiers in Endocrinology
- Vol. 4, 48
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2013.00048
Abstract
Müller cells, the principal glial cells of the retina, support the synaptic activity by the uptake and metabolization of extracellular neurotransmitters. Müller cells express uptake and exchange systems for various neurotransmitters including glutamate and -aminobutyric acid (GABA). Müller cells remove the bulk of extracellular glutamate in the inner retina and contribute to the glutamate clearance around photoreceptor terminals. By the uptake of glutamate, Müller cells are involved in the shaping and termination of the synaptic activity, particularly in the inner retina. Reactive Müller cells are neuroprotective, e.g., by the clearance of excess extracellular glutamate, but may also contribute to neuronal degeneration by a malfunctioning or even reversal of glial glutamate transporters, or by a downregulation of the key enzyme, glutamine synthetase. This review summarizes the present knowledge about the role of Müller cells in the clearance and metabolization of extracellular glutamate and GABA. Some major pathways of GABA and glutamate metabolism in Müller cells are described; these pathways are involved in the glutamate-glutamine cycle of the retina, in the defense against oxidative stress via the production of glutathione, and in the production of substrates for the neuronal energy metabolism.Keywords
This publication has 142 references indexed in Scilit:
- Expression of human GLUD2 glutamate dehydrogenase in human tissues: Functional implicationsNeurochemistry International, 2012
- ATP induces the death of developing avian retinal neurons in culture via activation of P2X7 and glutamate receptorsPurinergic Signalling, 2012
- Müller Glial Cell-Provided Cellular Light Guidance through the Vital Guinea-Pig RetinaBiophysical Journal, 2011
- μ‐Opioid receptor knockout mice are insensitive to methamphetamine‐induced behavioral sensitizationJournal of Neuroscience Research, 2010
- Transporter-mediated GABA responses in horizontal and bipolar cells of zebrafish retinaVisual Neuroscience, 2008
- Partial mitochondrial complex I inhibition induces oxidative damage and perturbs glutamate transport in primary retinal cultures.: Relevance to Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON)Neurobiology of Disease, 2006
- Glutamate transport by retinal Müller cells in glutamate/aspartate transporter‐knockout miceGlia, 2004
- Müller Cells in the Preconditioned Retinal Ischemic Injury RatThe Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine, 2000
- Modulation of non-vesicular glutamate release by pHNature, 1996
- Alterations of Müller (glial) cells in dystrophic retinae of RCS ratsJournal of Neurocytology, 1995