A Stargazer Foretells the Way to the Synapse

摘要

The chemical messenger glutamate moves from cell to cell, enabling excitatory neurons in the brain to communicate with each other. This neurotransmitter is released into the synapse by the presynap-tic neuron, travels across the synapse, and then binds to glutamate receptors on the surface of the post-synaptic cell (see the figure). One class of glutamate receptor, the AMPA receptor, moves rapidly into and out of the postsynaptic membrane.