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Some brain cells are naturally protected against a stroke – and now we know why.

at the University of Bristol, UK, exposed slices of rats’ hippocampi to the low-oxygen conditions typical of a stroke. Neurons in the hippocampi known to resist stroke damage acted differently from a population of vulnerable cells: they removed receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate from their cell surface, reducing their sensitivity to the chemical. Glutamate floods the brain during a stroke.

Whether this finding could lead to the development of a treatment for stroke victims is an open question, says Mellor. The main problem is that the receptors are critical to normal brain function.

“However, if we can find a way to cause vulnerable nerve cells to remove their glutamate receptors from the cell surface our data would suggest that this would protect them,” he says.

Journal reference: , DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1183-11.2011