Although acupuncture analgesia has been reported in clinical trials, its mechanisms have been unclear. It was recently reported that spinal astrocytes-produced interleukin-17A (IL-17A) facilitates inflammatory pain. Hypothesizing that electroacupuncture (EA) would suppress inflammation-enhanced IL-17A synthesis to inhibit pain, we induced hyperalgesia, as measured by decreased paw withdrawal la...

The trafficking and phosphorylation of the NR1 and NR2 subunits of the N-methyl-D-aspartate-type glutamate receptor complex were studied in cultured rat hippocampal neurons. Surface expression was examined by modifying surface receptors via treatment of intact neurons with either the protease chymotrypsin or the cross-linking reagent bis(sulfosuccinimidyl)suberate, followed by quantification of...

Diverse arrays of glutamate-gated channels in the spinal cord and associated pathways are partly responsible for sensory input, for altered sensitivity to peripheral stimuli during inflammation, and for generation of motor patterns. The expression of 16 genes, encoding all known subunits for the NMDA receptor (NR1, NR2A to NR2D), AMPA/low-affinity kainate (GluR-A to -D), high-affinity kainate i...

Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) can be applied to study associative learning and its relevant underpinning molecular mechanisms in discrete brain regions. The present study examined, by immunohistochemistry and immunocytochemistry, the effects of acquisition and expression of lithium-induced CTA on activated Extracellular signal Regulated Kinase (p-ERK) in the prefrontal cortex (PFCx) and nucl...

The transmembrane and pore-forming regions of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors containing the NR1 and NR2B subunits were studied by measuring the effects of various NR1 and NR2B mutants on stimulation and block by spermine. Block by spermine was predominantly affected by mutations in the M3 segment of NR1 and especially in the M1 and M3 segments of NR2B. These regions are in the outer vestibule o...

Synapses onto dendritic spines in the lateral amygdala formed by afferents from the auditory thalamus represent a site of plasticity in Pavlovian fear conditioning. Previous work has demonstrated that thalamic afferents synapse onto LA spines expressing glutamate receptor (GluR) subunits, but the GluR subunit distribution at the synapse and within the cytoplasm has not been characterized. There...

Taste receptor cells are innervated by primary gustatory neurons that relay sensory information to the central nervous system. The transmitter(s) at synapses between taste receptor cells and primary afferent fibers is (are) not yet known. By analogy with other sensory organs, glutamate might a transmitter in taste buds. We examined the presence of AMPA and NMDA receptor subunits in rat gustator...

Activation and Thr286 autophosphorylation of calcium/calmodulindependent kinase II (CaMKII) following Ca2+ influx via N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-type glutamate receptors is essential for hippocampal long term potentiation (LTP), a widely investigated cellular model of learning and memory. Here, we show that NR2B, but not NR2A or NR1, subunits of NMDA receptors are responsible for autophosphory...

Protein kinase C (PKC) potentiates NMDA receptors in hippocampal, trigeminal, and spinal neurons. Although PKC phosphorylates the NMDA receptor subunit NR1 at four residues within the C terminal splice cassette C1, the molecular mechanisms underlying PKC potentiation of NMDA responses are not yet known. The present study examined the role of Ca2+ in PKC potentiation of recombinant NMDA receptor...

In addition to the central nervous system, glutamate receptors have been recently identified in a number of peripheral tissues, including adrenals. Pharmacological evidence indicates that adrenal glutamate receptors may be involved in stress response, particularly in catecholamine release. However, possible stress-induced changes at the level of local receptors themselves have not been evaluate...