Glutamate transporter

Glutamate transporters are family of neurotransmitter transporters that contains two subclasses: the excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) and the vesicular glutamate transporters (VGLUTs). Glutamate transporters are proteins that move glutamate – the principal excitatory neurotransmitter – across a membrane; in the brain, they normally serve to remove glutamate from the synaptic cleft and extrasynaptic sites via reuptake into neuroglia and neurons as well as move glutamate from the cytoplasm into synaptic vesicles. Glutamate transporters also transport aspartate and are present in virtually all peripheral tissues including bone, heart, liver, and testes. They exhibit stereoselectivity for L-glutamate but transport both L- and D-aspartate.