Kainic acid is a natural marine acid present in some seaweed. It is a specific agonist for the kainate receptor used as an ionotropic glutamate receptor which mimics the effect of glutamate. Kainic acid (KA) is an epileptogenic and neuroexcitotoxic agent by acting on specific kainate receptors (KARs) in the CNS. KA has been extensively used as a specific agonist for ionotrophic glutamate receptors (iGluRs), for example, KARs, to mimic glutamate excitotoxicity in neurodegenerative models as well as to distinguish other iGluRs such as α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionate receptors and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors. Given the current knowledge of excitotoxicity in neurodegeneration, interventions targeted at modulating excitotoxicity are promising in terms of dealing with neurodegenerative disorders.
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