Glutamate/glutamic acid ionic properties

The chiroptical properties of a-L-glutamic acid oligomers have been studied in order to show the influence of the degree of polymerization, the nature of the counterion, and the ionic strength on their conformations in solution (Rinaudo and Domard, 1976). With less than six amino acid residues, no ordered structure is observed. At higher oligomerization, four specific conformations exist, and the spectra have to be considered in each case as a combination of two limiting forms (a helix and random, P sheet and random, or extended form and random). 

N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) is a specific agonist of the glutamate receptor, one among the most common neurotransmitters in the central nervous system of vertebrates [43]. The binding of NMD A to the glutamate receptor produces the activation of an ionic channel [43]. We investigated the change of properties of the NMDA-activated channel in rat cerebellar neurones with days in culture [44]. 

---