Introduction Gene-environment interactions increase psychosis risk (Gayer-Anderson et al . Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2020; 55(5):645-657). However, identifying the genetic variants involved and how they interact with environmental factors underlying remains challenging. Objectives To investigate whether there are gene-environment in relationships of childhood trauma, lifetime cannabis ...

The mechanisms which contribute to the time-dependent recovery of resting ventilation and the ventilatory CO2 chemoreflex after carotid body denervation (CBD) are poorly understood. Herein we tested the hypothesis that there are time-dependent changes in the expression of specific AMPA, NMDA, and/or neurokinin-1 (NK1R) receptors within respiratory-related brain stem nuclei acutely or chronicall...

NMDA receptors are ligand-gated ion channels that assemble into tetrameric receptor complexes composed of glycine-binding GluN1 and GluN3 subunits (GluN3A-B) and glutamate-binding GluN2 subunits (GluN2A-D). NMDA receptors can assemble as GluN1/N2 receptors and as GluN3-containing NMDA receptors, which are either glutamate/glycine-activated triheteromeric GluN1/N2/N3 receptors or glycine-activat...

Cognitive dysfunction constitutes an essential component in schizophrenia for its early presence in the pathophysiology of the disease and close relatedness to life quality of patients. To develop effective treatment of cognitive deficits, it is important to understand their neurobiological causes and to identify potential therapeutic targets. In this study, adopting repeated MK-801 treatment a...

The activity of the NMDA receptor (NMDAR), which is a glutamate-gated ion channel, is a key factor influencing the neuronal damage following cerebral ischemia. NMDAR is composed of two essential GluN1 subunits and two regionally localized GluN2 or GluN3 subunits. GluN1, GluN2A, and GluN2B are the primary NMDAR subunits in the adult forebrain. Thus, the three major NMDAR subtypes in the adult fo...

BACKGROUND N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors play a central role in glutamatergic synaptic transmission in the mammalian brain and are linked to the pathophysiology and symptomatology of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, changes in NMDA receptor expression in distinct subcellular compartments in PD have not been elucidated. In this study, we investigated changes in subcellular expression o...

NMDA receptors (NMDARs) form glutamate-gated ion channels that have central roles in neuronal communication and plasticity throughout the brain. Dysfunctions of NMDARs are involved in several central nervous system disorders, including stroke, chronic pain and schizophrenia. One hallmark of NMDARs is that their activity can be allosterically regulated by a variety of extracellular small ligands...

L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-dopa) remains the most effective therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD), but its long-term administration is associated with the development of debilitating motor complications known as L-dopa-induced dyskinesia (LID). Enhanced function of dopamine D1 receptor (D1R) and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) is believed to participate in the pathogenesis of LID. Giv...

The reduced expression of the Sp4 gene in Sp4 hypomorphic mice resulted in subtle vacuolization in the hippocampus as well as deficits in sensorimotor gating and contextual memory, putative endophenotypes for schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. In this study, we examined both spatial learning/memory and hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) of Sp4 hypomorphic mice. Impaired spatia...

BACKGROUND Activity through NMDA type glutamate receptors sculpts connectivity in the developing nervous system. This topic is typically studied in the visual system in vivo, where activity of inputs can be differentially regulated, but in which individual synapses are difficult to visualize and mechanisms governing synaptic competition can be difficult to ascertain. Here, we develop a model of...