In a previous study by our group memory impairment in rats with minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) was associated with the inhibition of the glutamate‑nitric oxide‑cyclic guanosine monophosphate (Glu‑NO‑cGMP) pathway due to elevated dopamine (DA). However, the effects of DA on the Glu‑NO‑cGMP pathway localized in primary cortical astrocytes (PCAs) had not been elucidated in rats with MHE. In ...

Behavioral and electrophysiological evidence suggests that glutamatergic neurotransmission plays an important role in some of the long-term effects of cocaine and other drugs of abuse on brain function. We therefore examined the effect of repeated cocaine treatment on glutamate receptor subunit expression in central dopamine (DA) pathways implicated in many of cocaine's behavioral actions. By i...

Abstract Background Synaptic damage and glutamate excitotoxicity have been implicated in the pathogenesis of vascular dementia (VD). Clathrin, RAB5B N -methyl- d -aspartic acid receptor 1 (NMDAR1) proteins play a vital role endocytosis synaptic vesicles neurons over accumulation. Previous researches confirmed that Shenzhi Jiannao (SZJN) formula has an anti-apoptotic neuroprotective effect VD, b...

Estradiol treatment increases the number of NMDA receptor binding sites, and changes evoked synaptic currents in a manner consistent with a steroid-induced functional enhancement of NMDA receptors in rat hippocampus. In this study, we investigate the cellular mechanisms of estradiol-induced NMDA receptor regulation at the protein and mRNA levels in ovariectomized rats treated with ovarian stero...

Age-associated memory impairment occurs frequently in primates. Based on the established importance of both the perforant path and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in memory formation, we investigated the glutamate receptor distribution and immunofluorescence intensity within the dentate gyrus of juvenile, adult, and aged macaque monkeys with the combined use of subunit-specific antibodies...

A distinct subpopulation of neurons forming long corticocortical projections in the association neocortex is highly vulnerable to the degenerative process in Alzheimer's disease. However, the degree to which age-related molecular and morphologic alterations of identifiable neuronal populations reflects early cellular degeneration leading to functional deficits has not yet been fully investigate...

Better understanding of hemostasis will be possible by the identification of new lineage-specific stimuli that regulate platelet formation. We describe a novel functional megakaryocyte receptor that belongs to a family of ionotropic glutamate receptors of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) subtype responsible for synaptic neurotransmission in the central nervous system (CNS). Northern blotting and...

Previously, we reported that the expression of cytochrome oxidase in a number of brain stem nuclei exhibited a plateau or reduction at postnatal day (P) 3-4 and a dramatic decrease at P12, against a general increase with age. The present study examined the expression of glutamate, N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit 1 (NMDAR1), GABA, GABAB receptors, glycine receptors, and glutamate receptor ...

OBJECTIVE Autophagy is one of the key responses of cells to programmed cell death. Memantine, an approved anti-dementia drug, has an antiproliferative effect on cancer cells but the mechanism is poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to test the possibility of induction of autophagic cell death by memantine in glioma cell lines. METHODS Glioma cell lines (T-98 G and U-251 MG) wer...