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Glioma-related seizures: glutamate is the key

Epilepsy complicates the clinical course of many patients with brain tumors, particularly gliomas. A mouse model of glioma now indicates that glioma cells release glutamate, causing tumor-related seizures (pages 1269–1274). Sulfasalazine, an approved therapeutic for Crohn's disease, can block glutamate release and improve seizures in these mice; therefore, this drug may also have potential antiepileptic effects in humans.

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Figure 1: Buckingham et al.6 show that glioma cells release glutamate (Glu) into the extracellular space via the xc cystine (Cys)-glutamate antiporter.

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Correspondence to Matthias Simon or Marec von Lehe.

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Simon, M., von Lehe, M. Glioma-related seizures: glutamate is the key. Nat Med 17, 1190–1191 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.2510

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