Pharmacologic inactivation or genetic deletion of adenosine A2A receptors protects ischemic neurons in adult animals, but studies in neonatal hypoxia-ischemia (H-I) are inconclusive. The present study in neonatal piglets examined the hypothesis that A2A receptor signaling after reoxygenation from global H-I contributes to injury in highly vulnerable striatal neurons where A2A receptors are enri...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE RNA polymerase II promoters that drive the expression of rationally designed primary microRNA-based shRNA, for example, shRNAmir, can produce more potent gene knockdown than RNA polymerase III promoters. Antagonists of peripheral N methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors that do not interfere with central glutamate processing would prevent the development of adverse central n...

NR3A is expressed widely in the developing CNS of mammals. Coassembly of NR3A with NR1 and NR2 modifies NMDA receptor-mediated responses, reducing calcium permeability and single-channel conductance. The ligand binding properties of NR3A are unknown but shape the role NR3A plays when incorporated into NMDA receptors. Here, a soluble NR3A ligand binding domain (NR3A S1S2) was constructed based o...

BACKGROUND Anaesthetics may target ionotropic glutamate receptors in brain cells to produce their biological actions. Membrane-bound ionotropic glutamate receptors undergo dynamic trafficking between the surface membrane and intracellular organelles. Their subcellular distribution is subject to modulation by changing synaptic inputs and determines the efficacy and strength of excitatory synapse...

Glutamate neurotransmission and the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) are central to photic signaling to the master circadian pacemaker located in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). NMDARs also play important roles in brain development including visual input circuits. The functional NMDAR is comprised of multiple subunits, but each requiring the NR1 subunit for normal activity....

Leptin, an adipokine synthesized mainly by non‑neuronal tissues, has been reported to contribute to the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain. It has been hypothesized that morphine tolerance and neuropathic pain share some common pathological mechanisms. The present study was designed to examine whether spinal leptin is implicated in the development of morphine antinociceptive tolerance, and whethe...

Functional interactions between dopamine D1-like receptors and NMDA subtype glutamate receptors have been implicated in the maintenance of normal brain activity and neurological dysfunction. Although modulation of NMDA receptor functions by D1 receptor activation has been the subject of extensive investigation, little is known as to how the activation of NMDA receptors alters D1 function. Here ...

It is well established that the NMDA receptor antagonists block hippocampal long-term potentiation and impair acquisition in the Morris watermaze task, although the role of individual NMDA receptor subtypes is largely unknown. In the present study, we compared the effects of (+/-)-CP-101,606, an antagonist selective for NMDA receptor NR1/NR2B subunit-containing receptors and the nonselective NM...

McNearney TA, Ma Y, Chen Y, Taglialatela G, Yin H, Zhang W, Westlund KN. A peripheral neuroimmune link: glutamate agonists upregulate NMDA NR1 receptor mRNA and protein, vimentin, TNF, and RANTES in cultured human synoviocytes. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 298: R584–R598, 2010. First published December 9, 2009; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00452.2009.—Human primary and clonal synovial cells we...

OBJECTIVE To investigate astaxanthin (ATX) neuroprotection, and its mechanism, on a 1-methyl-4-phenyl-pyridine ion (MPP+)-induced cell model of Parkinson's disease. METHODS Mature, differentiated PC12 cells treated with MPP+ were used as an in vitro cell model. The MTT assay was used to investigate cell viability after ATX treatment, and western blot analysis was used to observe Sp1 (activate...