N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) play an important role in many aspects of nervous system function such as synaptic plasticity and neuronal development. NMDARs are heteromers consisting of an obligate NR1 and most commonly one or two kinds of NR2 subunits. While the receptors have been well characterized in some vertebrate and invertebrate systems, information about NMDARs in Xenopus lae...

Previous work with recombinant receptors has shown that the identity of the NMDA NR2 subunit influences receptor affinity for both glutamate and glycine. We have investigated the developmental change in NMDA receptor affinity for both glutamate and glycine in acutely dissociated parietal cortex neurons of the rat, together with the expression during ontogeny of NR2A and NR2B mRNA and protein. W...

Micromolar concentrations of extracellular Zn2+ are known to antagonize native NMDA receptors via a dual mechanism involving both a voltage-independent and a voltage-dependent inhibition. We have tried to evaluate the relative importance of these two effects and their subunit specificity on recombinant NMDA receptors expressed in HEK 293 cells and Xenopus oocytes. The comparison of NR1a-NR2A an...

Recently, the role of EphB receptor (EphBR) tyrosine kinase and their ephrinB ligands in spinal pain-related neural plasticity has been identified. To test whether Src-family non-receptor tyrosine kinase-dependent glutamatergic N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) NR2B subunit phosphorylation underlies lumbosacral spinal EphBR activation to mediate cross-organ sensitization between the colon a...

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 glutamatergic receptors on GnRH neurons. Previously, the Gore lab reported an increase in the expression of the NR2b subunit protein of the NMDA receptor on GnRH neurons in middle-age...

We found previously that acute ex vivo as well as repeated cycles of in vivo ethanol exposure and withdrawal, including excessive voluntary consumption of ethanol, produces a long-lasting increase in the activity of NR2B-containing NMDA receptors (NR2B-NMDARs) in the dorsomedial striatum (DMS) of rats (Wang et al., 2010a). Activation of NMDARs is required for the induction of long-term potentia...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI)-induced disruptions in synaptic function within regions and across networks the limbic system may underlie a vulnerability for maladaptive plasticity contribute to behavioral comorbidities. In this study we measured how proteins respond lateral fluid percussion (FPI) known regulate emotion memory, including basolateral amygdala (BLA), dorsal ventral hippocampus (DH,...

The objective of this research was to test whether sodium hydroxybutyrate (GHB-Na) protects rat neonatal brain against hypoxia-ischemia (HI). Specifically, the objective was to determine the effect of GHB-Na administration on the expression of N-methyl-D-aspartate subunit (NR2B) mRNA in the rat hippocampus. Seven-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to ligation of the left carotid artery ...

Effects of C-phycocyanin (C-PC), the active component of Spirulina platensis water extract on the expressions of N-methyl D-aspartate receptor subunit 2B (NR2B), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and cyclooxygenase type 2 (COX-2) genes in the cochlea and inferior colliculus (IC) of mice were evaluated after tinnitus was induced by intraperitoneal injection of salicylate. ...

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...