Astrocytes express a wide range of G-protein coupled receptors that trigger release of intracellular Ca2+, including P2Y, bradykinin and protease activated receptors (PARs). By using the highly sensitive sniffer-patch technique, we demonstrate that the activation of P2Y receptors, bradykinin receptors and protease activated receptors all stimulate glutamate release from cultured or acutely diss...

In the hippocampus, fast excitatory synaptic transmission of principal projection neurons is mediated by non-NMDA glutamate receptors, whereas NMDA glutamate receptors serve a slower modulatory role. We used the whole-cell patch-clamp technique in adult hippocampal slices to assess the role of NMDA receptors in synaptic excitation of a recently discovered excitatory projection neuron, the CA1 r...

Ionotropic glutamate receptors are ligand-gated ion channels that mediate excitatory synaptic transmission in the central nervous system. Based on their structural and pharmacological properties, ionotropic glutamate receptors can be divided into three groups, which include α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxasolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors, kainate receptors, and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) ...

frequent simulation and irritation of nmda receptors by glutamate mediators can lead to burning pain, allodynia and hyperalgesia, even after stopping the irritant factor. opioid-induced hyperalgesia and peripheral nerve injuries in lower extremities orthopedic surgeries can also make the same symptoms, which sometimes make it difficult to diagnose it from causalgia (type ii complex regional pai...

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...

The development of cortical neurons in vivo and in vitro is accompanied by alterations in NMDA receptor subunit expression and concomitant modifications in the pharmacological profile of NMDA-activated ionic currents. For example, we observed that with decreasing NR2B/NR2A subunit expression ratio, the block of NMDA receptor-mediated whole-cell responses by the NR2B-selective antagonist haloper...

28 29 Activity of neurons in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve (DMV) is 30 closely regulated by synaptic input, and regulation of that input by glutamate receptors 31 on presynaptic terminals has been proposed. Presynaptic NMDA receptors have been 32 identified in a number of brain regions and act to modulate neurotransmitter release, but 33 functional presynaptic NMDA receptors have ...

Recently, NMDA receptors (NMDARs) have been implicated in a cell contact-dependent suppression of sprouting in cultured Xenopus tectal neurons during an early period when neither AMPA/kainate (KA) receptors nor action potentials play a prominent role in cell-cell communication. We asked how the NMDA receptors function in the absence of the depolarizing effect of AMPA/KA receptor activity. We sh...

Activity of neurons in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve (DMV) is closely regulated by synaptic input, and regulation of that input by glutamate receptors on presynaptic terminals has been proposed. Presynaptic N-methyl-d-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors have been identified in a number of brain regions and act to modulate neurotransmitter release, but functional presynaptic NMDA recept...