Glutamate dyshomeostasis leads to Cell injury/death

Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian CNS, where it plays key roles in development, learning, memory and response to injury. However, glutamate at high concentrations at the synaptic cleft acts as a toxin, inducing neuronal injury and death (Meldrum, 2000; Ozawa et al., 1998). Glutamate-mediated neurotoxicity has been dubbed as “excitotoxicity”, referring to the consequence of the overactivation of the N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA)–type glutamate receptors (cf AOP 48), leading to increased Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ influx into neurons (Choi, 1992; Pivovarova and Andrews, 2010). Increased intracellular Ca²⁺ levels are associated with the generation of oxidative stress and neurotoxicity (Lafon-Cazal et al., 1993). Accordingly, the control of extracellular levels of glutamate dictates its physiological/pathological actions and this equilibrium is maintained primarily by the action of several glutamate transporters (such as GLAST, GLT1, and EAAC1) located on astrocytic cell membranes, which remove the excitatory neurotransmitter from the synaptic cleft, keeping its extracellular concentrations below toxic levels (Anderson and Swanson, 2000; Maragakis and Rothstein, 2001; Szydlowska and Tymianski, 2010).

In addition to synaptic transmission, physiological stimulation of glutamate receptors can mediate trophic effects and promote neuronal plasticity. During development, NMDA receptors initiate a cascade of signal transduction events and gene expression changes primarily involving Ca²⁺-mediated signaling, induced by activation of either Ca²⁺- permeable receptor channels or voltage-sensitive Ca²⁺ channels. The consecutive activation of major protein kinase signaling pathways, such as Ras-MAPK/ERK and PI3-K-Akt, contributes to regulation of gene expression through the activation of key transcription factors, such as CREB, SRF, MEF-2, NF-kappaB. Metabotropic glutamate receptors can also engage these signaling pathways, in part by transactivating receptor tyrosine kinases. Indirect effects of glutamate receptor stimulation are due to the release of neurotrophic factors, such as brain derived neurotrophic factor through glutamate-induced release of trophic factors from glia. The trophic effect of glutamate receptor activation is developmental stage-dependent and may play an important role in determining the selective survival of neurons that made proper connections. During this sensitive developmental period, interference with glutamate receptor function may lead to widespread neuronal loss (Balazs, 2006).

See table of empirical evidence.

Support for the link between glutamate dyshomeostasis and cell injury /death can be found in rats, and mouse. However, as the neurotransmitter glutamate is already found in insects, it is plausible that this KER is valid throughout taxa (Harris et al., 2014).