In a recent review published in Molecular Neurobiology, Kamat and colleagues (Mol Neurobiol. 2014 Dec;50(3):852-65) highlighted the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in Okadaic acid (OKA)-induced neurotoxicity. In this review, the authors underline a wide range of pathological signaling pathways involved in OKA-induced neurotoxicity; however, the role of glutamate was only briefly described. We believe that the hyperactivation of the glutamatergic system is a key pathophysiological player in OKA-induced neurotoxicity and deserves serious attention. In this commentary, we propose an integrative model linking glutamate and PP2A and put forward some unanswered questions.
Keywords: Excitotoxicity; Glutamate; Okadaic acid; Protein phosphatase 2A; Tau hyperphosphorylation.