Glutamate joins the ranks of immunomodulators

Elevated amounts of glutamate, which acts as a neurotransmitter but is also a neurotoxin, are a hallmark of the autoimmune neurological disease multiple sclerosis and may contribute to its pathology. The discovery that a receptor for glutamate can inhibit the development of autoimmunity and protect from neuroinflammation in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis suggests that glutamate may also have a protective role and that its receptor may represent a therapeutic target (pages 897–902).