BACKGROUND Major depressive disorder is increasingly recognized to involve functional deficits in both gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic and glutamatergic synaptic transmission. To elucidate the relationship between these phenotypes, we used GABAA receptor γ2 subunit heterozygous (γ2(+/-)) mice, which we previously characterized as a model animal with construct, face, and predictive validity ...

Shank proteins, one of the principal scaffolds in the postsynaptic density (PSD) of the glutamatergic synapses, have been associated with autism spectrum disorders and neuropsychiatric diseases. However, it is not known whether different Shank family proteins have distinct functions in regulating synaptic transmission, and how they differ from other scaffold proteins in this aspect. Here, we in...

objective(s) nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nachrs) regulate epileptiform activity and produce a sustained pro-epileptogenic action within the hippocampal slices. in the present study, we investigated the effect of nachrs on evoked glutamatergic synaptic transmission in area ca3 and ca1 of rat hippocampal slices to identify possible excitatory circuits through which activation of nachrs pro...