Elevated amounts of glutamate, which acts as a neurotransmitter but is also a neurotoxin, are a hallmark of the autoimmune neurological disease multiple sclerosis and may contribute to its pathology. The discovery that a receptor for glutamate can inhibit the development of autoimmunity and protect from neuroinflammation in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis suggests that glutamate may also have a protective role and that its receptor may represent a therapeutic target (pages 897–902).
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Hansen, A., Caspi, R. Glutamate joins the ranks of immunomodulators. Nat Med 16, 856–858 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0810-856
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0810-856
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