UNLABELLED Many psychiatric and neurological disorders are characterized by learning and memory deficits, for which cognitive enhancement is considered a valid treatment strategy. The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) is a prime target for the development of cognitive enhancers because of its fundamental role in learning and memory. In particular, the NMDAR subunit NR2B improves synaptic pl...

Epileptic seizures are accompanied by learning and memory impairments. In this study, the effect of low frequency stimulation (LFS) on spatial was assessed in kindled animals followed for one month. Fully rats received LFS at 4 times (immediately, 6 h, 24 h 30 following final kindling stimulation). Applying improved animals’ performance Barnes maze test. This action a decrease NR2B gene express...

The amino acid sequence of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor subunit NR2B from the brown ghost knife fish Apteronotus leptorhynchus has been determined and compared with the sequence of the murine NR2B. This comparison revealed high levels of sequence conservation throughout the ligand binding and membrane spanning segments. The functional properties of the NR1 and NR2B receptor complex ...

Considerable evidence indicates that the NMDA receptor (NMDAR) subunits NR2A and NR2B are critical mediators of synaptic plasticity and dendritogenesis; however, how they differentially regulate these processes is unclear. Here we investigate the roles of the NR2A and NR2B subunits, and of their scaffolding proteins PSD-95 and SAP102, in remodeling the dendritic architecture of developing hippo...

NR2A and NR2B are the predominant NR2 NMDA receptor subunits expressed in cortex and hippocampus. The relative expression level of NR2A and NR2B is regulated developmentally and these two subunits have been suggested to play distinct roles in long-term synaptic plasticity. We have used patch-clamp recording of recombinant NMDA receptors expressed in HEK293 cells to characterize the activation p...

Plastic changes in glutamatergic synapses that lead to endurance of drug craving and addiction are poorly understood. We examined the turnover and trafficking of NMDA receptors and found that chronic exposure to the psychostimulant amphetamine (AMPH) induced selective downregulation of NMDA receptor NR2B subunits in the confined surface membrane pool of rat striatal neurons at synaptic sites. T...

Dopamine-glutamate interactions in the neostriatum determine psychostimulant action, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Here we found that dopamine stimulation by cocaine enhances a heteroreceptor complex formation between dopamine D2 receptors (D2R) and NMDA receptor NR2B subunits in the neostriatum in vivo. The D2R-NR2B interaction is direct and occurs in the confined pos...

Neurodegeneration is the pathophysiological basis for permanent neurological disabilities in multiple sclerosis (MS); thus neuroprotection is emerging as a therapeutic approach in MS research. Modulation of excitotoxicity by inhibition of NMDARs has been suggested for neuroprotection, but selective antagonisation of the NR2B subtype of these receptors, a subtype believed to play a more pivotal ...

KIF17, a recently characterized member of the kinesin superfamily proteins, has been proposed to bind in vitro to a protein complex containing mLin10 (Mint1/X11) and the NR2B subunit of the NMDA receptors (NMDARs). In the mammalian brain, NMDARs play an important role in synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory. Here we present, for the first time, the dynamic properties of KIF17 and provide e...

NMDA receptors (NMDARs) are important for neuronal development and circuit formation. The NMDAR subunits NR2A and NR2B are biophysically distinct and differentially expressed during development but their individual contribution to structural plasticity is unknown. Here we test whether NR2A and NR2B subunits have specific functions in the morphological development of tectal neurons in living Xen...