Biomaterial Database

Excitatory amino acid receptors in epilepsy. 1990

R Dingledine, and C J McBain, and J O McNamara

Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599.

Excitatory amino acid transmitters participate in normal synaptic transmission throughout the CNS (see Headley and Grillner, May TiPS), so it comes as no surprise that such excitatory pathways are involved in the initiation of seizures and their propagation. Most attention has been directed to synapses using NMDA receptors, although more recent evidence indicates potential roles for the AMPA receptors as well. In this article--the first of two to focus on the neurological dangers inherent in excitatory amino acid pathways--Raymond Dingledine, Chris McBain and James McNamara consider their involvement in epilepsy; next month's article will cover brain damage following ischemia and hypoxia.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D011956	Receptors, Cell Surface	Cell surface proteins that bind signalling molecules external to the cell with high affinity and convert this extracellular event into one or more intracellular signals that alter the behavior of the target cell (From Alberts, Molecular Biology of the Cell, 2nd ed, pp693-5). Cell surface receptors, unlike enzymes, do not chemically alter their ligands.	Cell Surface Receptor,Cell Surface Receptors,Hormone Receptors, Cell Surface,Receptors, Endogenous Substances,Cell Surface Hormone Receptors,Endogenous Substances Receptors,Receptor, Cell Surface,Surface Receptor, Cell
D004827	Epilepsy	A disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of paroxysmal brain dysfunction due to a sudden, disorderly, and excessive neuronal discharge. Epilepsy classification systems are generally based upon: (1) clinical features of the seizure episodes (e.g., motor seizure), (2) etiology (e.g., post-traumatic), (3) anatomic site of seizure origin (e.g., frontal lobe seizure), (4) tendency to spread to other structures in the brain, and (5) temporal patterns (e.g., nocturnal epilepsy). (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p313)	Aura,Awakening Epilepsy,Seizure Disorder,Epilepsy, Cryptogenic,Auras,Cryptogenic Epilepsies,Cryptogenic Epilepsy,Epilepsies,Epilepsies, Cryptogenic,Epilepsy, Awakening,Seizure Disorders
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D017459	Receptors, Amino Acid	Cell surface proteins that bind amino acids and trigger changes which influence the behavior of cells. Glutamate receptors are the most common receptors for fast excitatory synaptic transmission in the vertebrate central nervous system, and GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID and glycine receptors are the most common receptors for fast inhibition.	Amino Acid Receptors,Receptor, Amino Acid,Receptors, Amino Acids,Amino Acid Receptor,Amino Acids Receptors