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Why are there synthetic chemicals in our bodies? Where do they come from?


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$begingroup$


My specific question is in regards to NMDA.



On the wiki page for NMDA it says that NMDA is a synthetic substance that mimics glutamate. So why does the body not use glutamate instead of NMDA?



Also how is it possible that our body can produce something that is synthetic? I thought synthetic was man-made chemicals. Does that mean the NMDA receptors it binds to are also synthetic? How did this come to be?










share|improve this question









$endgroup$

















    2












    $begingroup$


    My specific question is in regards to NMDA.



    On the wiki page for NMDA it says that NMDA is a synthetic substance that mimics glutamate. So why does the body not use glutamate instead of NMDA?



    Also how is it possible that our body can produce something that is synthetic? I thought synthetic was man-made chemicals. Does that mean the NMDA receptors it binds to are also synthetic? How did this come to be?










    share|improve this question









    $endgroup$















      2












      2








      2





      $begingroup$


      My specific question is in regards to NMDA.



      On the wiki page for NMDA it says that NMDA is a synthetic substance that mimics glutamate. So why does the body not use glutamate instead of NMDA?



      Also how is it possible that our body can produce something that is synthetic? I thought synthetic was man-made chemicals. Does that mean the NMDA receptors it binds to are also synthetic? How did this come to be?










      share|improve this question









      $endgroup$




      My specific question is in regards to NMDA.



      On the wiki page for NMDA it says that NMDA is a synthetic substance that mimics glutamate. So why does the body not use glutamate instead of NMDA?



      Also how is it possible that our body can produce something that is synthetic? I thought synthetic was man-made chemicals. Does that mean the NMDA receptors it binds to are also synthetic? How did this come to be?







      human-biology biochemistry molecular-biology neurophysiology neurotransmitter






      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question











      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question










      asked 4 hours ago









      user3665690user3665690

      997




      997






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

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          2












          $begingroup$

          NMDA receptors are in fact glutamate receptors natively: there is no endogenous NMDA. They are named NMDA receptors because experimentally they were differentiated from other glutamate receptors using the compound NMDA. At first glutamate receptors were known as "NMDA" and "non-NMDA" glutamate receptors, and later the non-NMDA sort were found to be sensitive to AMPA or kainate and named thusly.



          Many other receptors are named this way: the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor is the receptor that nicotine is an agonist at, but the endogenous ligand is acetylcholine; muscarine is an agonist to the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor but the endogenous ligand is acetylcholine.





          Watkins, J. C., & Jane, D. E. (2006). The glutamate story. British journal of pharmacology, 147(S1), S100-S108.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$













          • $begingroup$
            So does that mean the so called "NMDA" in our bodies is just a chemical scientists found that is similar to glutamate, and thus named it that way? I still don't understand why there is no endogenous NMDA, where does it come from in our bodies?
            $endgroup$
            – user3665690
            1 hour ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @user3665690 There are "NMDA receptors" in our body. There is not NMDA naturally in our body. "NMDA receptor" is just a name people gave to one of the receptors that normally binds glutamate. They could have called it something else, like the "slow glu receptor", or "Glutamate Receptor A", but they called it the NMDA receptor because they discovered it was different from other glutamate receptors in that it was activated by a chemical called NMDA in their experiments.
            $endgroup$
            – Bryan Krause
            1 hour ago










          • $begingroup$
            I see! ok that makes a lot of sense now, so basically NMDA is a synthetic chemical that mimics glutamate induce NMDA receptor activity. Is that the right interpretation?
            $endgroup$
            – user3665690
            1 hour ago










          • $begingroup$
            @user3665690 Yes that's correct
            $endgroup$
            – Bryan Krause
            1 hour ago












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          1 Answer
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          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

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          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

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          2












          $begingroup$

          NMDA receptors are in fact glutamate receptors natively: there is no endogenous NMDA. They are named NMDA receptors because experimentally they were differentiated from other glutamate receptors using the compound NMDA. At first glutamate receptors were known as "NMDA" and "non-NMDA" glutamate receptors, and later the non-NMDA sort were found to be sensitive to AMPA or kainate and named thusly.



          Many other receptors are named this way: the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor is the receptor that nicotine is an agonist at, but the endogenous ligand is acetylcholine; muscarine is an agonist to the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor but the endogenous ligand is acetylcholine.





          Watkins, J. C., & Jane, D. E. (2006). The glutamate story. British journal of pharmacology, 147(S1), S100-S108.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$













          • $begingroup$
            So does that mean the so called "NMDA" in our bodies is just a chemical scientists found that is similar to glutamate, and thus named it that way? I still don't understand why there is no endogenous NMDA, where does it come from in our bodies?
            $endgroup$
            – user3665690
            1 hour ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @user3665690 There are "NMDA receptors" in our body. There is not NMDA naturally in our body. "NMDA receptor" is just a name people gave to one of the receptors that normally binds glutamate. They could have called it something else, like the "slow glu receptor", or "Glutamate Receptor A", but they called it the NMDA receptor because they discovered it was different from other glutamate receptors in that it was activated by a chemical called NMDA in their experiments.
            $endgroup$
            – Bryan Krause
            1 hour ago










          • $begingroup$
            I see! ok that makes a lot of sense now, so basically NMDA is a synthetic chemical that mimics glutamate induce NMDA receptor activity. Is that the right interpretation?
            $endgroup$
            – user3665690
            1 hour ago










          • $begingroup$
            @user3665690 Yes that's correct
            $endgroup$
            – Bryan Krause
            1 hour ago
















          2












          $begingroup$

          NMDA receptors are in fact glutamate receptors natively: there is no endogenous NMDA. They are named NMDA receptors because experimentally they were differentiated from other glutamate receptors using the compound NMDA. At first glutamate receptors were known as "NMDA" and "non-NMDA" glutamate receptors, and later the non-NMDA sort were found to be sensitive to AMPA or kainate and named thusly.



          Many other receptors are named this way: the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor is the receptor that nicotine is an agonist at, but the endogenous ligand is acetylcholine; muscarine is an agonist to the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor but the endogenous ligand is acetylcholine.





          Watkins, J. C., & Jane, D. E. (2006). The glutamate story. British journal of pharmacology, 147(S1), S100-S108.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$













          • $begingroup$
            So does that mean the so called "NMDA" in our bodies is just a chemical scientists found that is similar to glutamate, and thus named it that way? I still don't understand why there is no endogenous NMDA, where does it come from in our bodies?
            $endgroup$
            – user3665690
            1 hour ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @user3665690 There are "NMDA receptors" in our body. There is not NMDA naturally in our body. "NMDA receptor" is just a name people gave to one of the receptors that normally binds glutamate. They could have called it something else, like the "slow glu receptor", or "Glutamate Receptor A", but they called it the NMDA receptor because they discovered it was different from other glutamate receptors in that it was activated by a chemical called NMDA in their experiments.
            $endgroup$
            – Bryan Krause
            1 hour ago










          • $begingroup$
            I see! ok that makes a lot of sense now, so basically NMDA is a synthetic chemical that mimics glutamate induce NMDA receptor activity. Is that the right interpretation?
            $endgroup$
            – user3665690
            1 hour ago










          • $begingroup$
            @user3665690 Yes that's correct
            $endgroup$
            – Bryan Krause
            1 hour ago














          2












          2








          2





          $begingroup$

          NMDA receptors are in fact glutamate receptors natively: there is no endogenous NMDA. They are named NMDA receptors because experimentally they were differentiated from other glutamate receptors using the compound NMDA. At first glutamate receptors were known as "NMDA" and "non-NMDA" glutamate receptors, and later the non-NMDA sort were found to be sensitive to AMPA or kainate and named thusly.



          Many other receptors are named this way: the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor is the receptor that nicotine is an agonist at, but the endogenous ligand is acetylcholine; muscarine is an agonist to the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor but the endogenous ligand is acetylcholine.





          Watkins, J. C., & Jane, D. E. (2006). The glutamate story. British journal of pharmacology, 147(S1), S100-S108.






          share|improve this answer











          $endgroup$



          NMDA receptors are in fact glutamate receptors natively: there is no endogenous NMDA. They are named NMDA receptors because experimentally they were differentiated from other glutamate receptors using the compound NMDA. At first glutamate receptors were known as "NMDA" and "non-NMDA" glutamate receptors, and later the non-NMDA sort were found to be sensitive to AMPA or kainate and named thusly.



          Many other receptors are named this way: the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor is the receptor that nicotine is an agonist at, but the endogenous ligand is acetylcholine; muscarine is an agonist to the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor but the endogenous ligand is acetylcholine.





          Watkins, J. C., & Jane, D. E. (2006). The glutamate story. British journal of pharmacology, 147(S1), S100-S108.







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited 4 hours ago

























          answered 4 hours ago









          Bryan KrauseBryan Krause

          19.9k33257




          19.9k33257












          • $begingroup$
            So does that mean the so called "NMDA" in our bodies is just a chemical scientists found that is similar to glutamate, and thus named it that way? I still don't understand why there is no endogenous NMDA, where does it come from in our bodies?
            $endgroup$
            – user3665690
            1 hour ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @user3665690 There are "NMDA receptors" in our body. There is not NMDA naturally in our body. "NMDA receptor" is just a name people gave to one of the receptors that normally binds glutamate. They could have called it something else, like the "slow glu receptor", or "Glutamate Receptor A", but they called it the NMDA receptor because they discovered it was different from other glutamate receptors in that it was activated by a chemical called NMDA in their experiments.
            $endgroup$
            – Bryan Krause
            1 hour ago










          • $begingroup$
            I see! ok that makes a lot of sense now, so basically NMDA is a synthetic chemical that mimics glutamate induce NMDA receptor activity. Is that the right interpretation?
            $endgroup$
            – user3665690
            1 hour ago










          • $begingroup$
            @user3665690 Yes that's correct
            $endgroup$
            – Bryan Krause
            1 hour ago


















          • $begingroup$
            So does that mean the so called "NMDA" in our bodies is just a chemical scientists found that is similar to glutamate, and thus named it that way? I still don't understand why there is no endogenous NMDA, where does it come from in our bodies?
            $endgroup$
            – user3665690
            1 hour ago






          • 1




            $begingroup$
            @user3665690 There are "NMDA receptors" in our body. There is not NMDA naturally in our body. "NMDA receptor" is just a name people gave to one of the receptors that normally binds glutamate. They could have called it something else, like the "slow glu receptor", or "Glutamate Receptor A", but they called it the NMDA receptor because they discovered it was different from other glutamate receptors in that it was activated by a chemical called NMDA in their experiments.
            $endgroup$
            – Bryan Krause
            1 hour ago










          • $begingroup$
            I see! ok that makes a lot of sense now, so basically NMDA is a synthetic chemical that mimics glutamate induce NMDA receptor activity. Is that the right interpretation?
            $endgroup$
            – user3665690
            1 hour ago










          • $begingroup$
            @user3665690 Yes that's correct
            $endgroup$
            – Bryan Krause
            1 hour ago
















          $begingroup$
          So does that mean the so called "NMDA" in our bodies is just a chemical scientists found that is similar to glutamate, and thus named it that way? I still don't understand why there is no endogenous NMDA, where does it come from in our bodies?
          $endgroup$
          – user3665690
          1 hour ago




          $begingroup$
          So does that mean the so called "NMDA" in our bodies is just a chemical scientists found that is similar to glutamate, and thus named it that way? I still don't understand why there is no endogenous NMDA, where does it come from in our bodies?
          $endgroup$
          – user3665690
          1 hour ago




          1




          1




          $begingroup$
          @user3665690 There are "NMDA receptors" in our body. There is not NMDA naturally in our body. "NMDA receptor" is just a name people gave to one of the receptors that normally binds glutamate. They could have called it something else, like the "slow glu receptor", or "Glutamate Receptor A", but they called it the NMDA receptor because they discovered it was different from other glutamate receptors in that it was activated by a chemical called NMDA in their experiments.
          $endgroup$
          – Bryan Krause
          1 hour ago




          $begingroup$
          @user3665690 There are "NMDA receptors" in our body. There is not NMDA naturally in our body. "NMDA receptor" is just a name people gave to one of the receptors that normally binds glutamate. They could have called it something else, like the "slow glu receptor", or "Glutamate Receptor A", but they called it the NMDA receptor because they discovered it was different from other glutamate receptors in that it was activated by a chemical called NMDA in their experiments.
          $endgroup$
          – Bryan Krause
          1 hour ago












          $begingroup$
          I see! ok that makes a lot of sense now, so basically NMDA is a synthetic chemical that mimics glutamate induce NMDA receptor activity. Is that the right interpretation?
          $endgroup$
          – user3665690
          1 hour ago




          $begingroup$
          I see! ok that makes a lot of sense now, so basically NMDA is a synthetic chemical that mimics glutamate induce NMDA receptor activity. Is that the right interpretation?
          $endgroup$
          – user3665690
          1 hour ago












          $begingroup$
          @user3665690 Yes that's correct
          $endgroup$
          – Bryan Krause
          1 hour ago




          $begingroup$
          @user3665690 Yes that's correct
          $endgroup$
          – Bryan Krause
          1 hour ago


















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