胰岛中谷氨酸和γ-氨基丁酸受体的研究进展

谷氨酸和γ-氨基丁酸受体主要分布在中枢神经系统,在神经信号转导中发挥着重要作用.近年来在胰岛中也发现了这类受体,且胰岛中几乎含有这些受体的所有亚型.本文详细描述了胰岛中这些受体的各亚型,并着重讨论了它们的生理功能和相互作用关系,以及研究它们在胰岛中的生理功能的新技术方法.这些问题的探讨不但为研究胰岛功能机制提供了新思路,也将有助于从新的视角理解神经科学问题.

Glutamate receptors and gamma-aminobutyric acid receptors in pancreatic cells

Glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors are mainly expressed in central nervous system and play critical roles in neural signal transduction. It has been demonstrated that glutamate and GABA receptors are also found in pancreatic islets. Interestingly, almost all of glutamate and GABA receptor subunits are present in islets. Here, we summarize current progresses of these receptors in islets, focusing on there expressions, physiological implications, interactions, as well as a novel approach to investigate roles of the receptors in islets slice. All these investigations will potentially supply new understanding of working mechanism of these receptors in islet and also shed a new insight for neuroscientific research.