Converging evidence shows that monoamine oxidase A (MAO A), the key enzyme catalyzing serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) and norepinephrine (NE) degradation, is a primary factor in the pathophysiology of antisocial and aggressive behavior. Accordingly, male MAO A-deficient humans and mice exhibit an extreme predisposition to aggressive outbursts in response to stress. As NMDARs regulate the ...

Tyrosine kinase phosphorylation plays an important role in the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP). Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a 125 kDa nonreceptor tyrosine kinase that shows decreased phosphorylation in fyn mutant mice, and Fyn plays a critical role in LTP induction. By examining the role of FAK involved in LTP induction in dentate gyrus in vivo with medial perforant path stimulatio...

Excessive activation of NMDA receptors (NMDARs) is implicated in pathological synaptic plasticity also known as post-ischemic long-term potentiation (i-LTP) which was produced by glutamate mediated excitotoxicity after stroke. In the past decades, many NMDARs inhibitors failed in clinical investigations due to severe psychotomimetic side effects. GLYX-13 is a NMDAR modulator with glycine site p...

BACKGROUND Severe trauma can cause secondary multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and death. Oxidative stress and/or excitatory neurotoxicity are considered as the final common pathway in nerve cell injuries. Zinc is the cofactor of the redox enzyme, and the effect of the excitatory neurotoxicity is related to N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor (NMDAR). MATERIAL AND METHODS We investigat...

A 21-year-old woman developed psychiatric symptoms, progressive unresponsiveness, generalized seizures, severe dyskinesia, marked fluctuation of blood pressure, and hypersalivation after a flu-like episode. Anti-glutamate receptor (GluR)ε2 and anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antibodies were positive in both her serum and CSF. After she recovered five months later she underwent surger...

The subunit composition of N-methyl D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) is tightly regulated during cortical development. NMDARs are initially dominated by GluN2B (NR2B), whereas GluN2A (NR2A) incorporation increases after birth. The function of GluN2B-containing NMDARs during development, however, is incompletely understood. We generated a mouse in which we genetically replaced GluN2B with GluN2A (...

Neuronal death induced by overactivation of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) is implicated in the pathophysiology of many neurodegenerative diseases such as stroke, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury. This toxic effect is mainly mediated by NR2B-containing extrasynaptic NMDARs, while NR2A-containing synaptic NMDARs contribute to cell survival, suggesting the possibility of therapeutic a...

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), dysregulation of intracellular Ca2+ signalling has been observed as an early event prior to the presence of clinical symptoms and is believed to be a crucial factor contributing to AD pathogenesis. Amyloid-β oligomers (AβOs) disturb the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-mediated postsynaptic Ca2+ signalling in response to presynaptic stimulation by increasing th...

Functional and protein interactions between the N-methyl-D-aspartate type of glutamate receptor (NMDAR) and neurotrophin or ephrin receptors play essential roles in neuronal survival and differentiation. A shared downstream effector for neurotrophin- and ephrin-receptor signaling is kinase D-interacting substrate of 220 kDa (Kidins220), also known as ankyrin repeat-rich membrane spanning (ARMS)...

BACKGROUND/AIMS The loss of reproductive capacity during aging involves changes in the neural regulation of the hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons controlling reproduction. This neuronal circuitry includes glutamate receptors on GnRH neurons. Previously, we reported an increase in the expression of the NR2b subunit protein of the NMDA receptor on GnRH neurons in middle-a...