Regulation of glutamate receptors: possible role of phosphatidylserine.

The polar head group of the phospholipid phosphatidylserine is similar in structure to the glutamate analogue 2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid (APB), an antagonist of excitatory transmission in the brain. When tested in ligand binding assays phosphatidylserine and its polar head group components O-phosphoserine and L-alpha-glycerophosphoserine were good displacers of APB-sensitive L-glutamate binding. The polar head group components were also antagonists of synaptic field potentials in the rat dentate gyrus evoked by stimulation of a presumed glutamate-using pathway. These results suggest that phosphatidylserine may regulate the activity of synaptic L-glutamate receptors.