M. Hollmann and S. Heinemann (1994).
Cloned glutamate receptors.
Annual Review of Neuroscience 17: 31-108.
doi: 10.1146/annurev.ne.17.030194.000335
The application of molecular cloning technology to the study of the glutamate receptor system has led to an explosion of knowledge about the structure, expression, and function of this most important fast excitatory transmitter system in the mammalian brain. The first functional ionotropic glutamate receptor was cloned in 1989 (Hollmann et al., 1989), and the results of this molecular-based approach over the past three years are the focus of this review. We discuss the implications of and the new questions raised by this work-which is probably only a glance at this fascinating and complex signaling system found in brains from the snails to man.