Journal
ACTA PHARMACOLOGICA SINICA
Volume 30, Issue 4, Pages 379-387Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/aps.2009.24
Keywords
excitotoxicity; glutamate receptors; mitochondria; calcium; oxidative stress; neurodegenerative diseases
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Graduate Student Fellowship of Jiangsu Province [CX07B_232z]
- Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education [20050285017]
- Soochow University Medical Research Fund [EE134606]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
A pivotal role for excitotoxicity in neurodegenerative diseases is gaining increasingly more acceptance, but the underlying mechanisms through which it participates in neurodegeneration still need further investigation. Excessive activation of glutamate receptors by excitatory amino acids leads to a number of deleterious consequences, including impairment of calcium buffering, generation of free radicals, activation of the mitochondrial permeability transition and secondary excitotoxicity. Recent studies implicate excitotoxicity in a variety of neuropathological conditions, suggesting that neurodegenerative diseases with distinct genetic etiologies may share excitotoxicity as a common pathogenic pathway. Thus, understanding the pathways involved in excitotoxicity is of critical importance for the future clinical treatment of many neurodegenerative diseases. This review discusses the current understanding of excitotoxic mechanisms and how they are involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available