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...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Activation of NMDA subtypes of glutamate receptors is implicated in cell damage induced by ischemia as well as for the establishment of ischemic tolerance after ischemic preconditioning in animal models. We investigated the contributions of NR2A- and NR2B-containing NMDA receptors to ischemic cell death and ischemic tolerance in a rat model of transient global ischemia. ...

Transient ischemia increases tyrosine phosphorylation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor subunits NR2A and NR2B in the rat hippocampus. The authors investigated the effects of this increase on the ability of the receptor subunits to bind to the Src homology 2 (SH2) domains of Src and Fyn expressed as glutathione-S-transferase-SH2 fusion proteins. The NR2A and NR2B bound to each of the SH2 ...

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin produced by several fungi. Many foods can be contaminated by OTA, which is consequently found in the blood of humans and animals. It is known that OTA accumulates in the brain. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of OTA on the brain. For this purpose, the effect of OTA on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor subunits 2A (NR2A) and 2B (NR2B) in ...

The neurotrophin BDNF regulates the activity-dependent modifications of synaptic strength in the CNS. Physiological and biochemical evidences implicate the NMDA glutamate receptor as one of the targets for BDNF modulation. In the present study, we investigated the effect of BDNF on the expression and plasma membrane abundance of NMDA receptor subunits in cultured hippocampal neurons. Acute stim...

The specific composition of NMDA receptor subunits is thought to underlie the developmental plasticity of the cortex revealed by unbalanced binocular stimulation. However, evidence that NR2 subunits change in correlation with the critical period at locations that are relevant to visual plasticity has been missing. Using preembedding and postembedding immunostaining, as well as electron microsco...

Introduction: N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors play a pivotal role in the development of tolerance and physical dependence to opiates. Activation of NMDA receptors involves the induction of long term potentiation (LTP) in hippocampus. Our previous study suggested that chronic oral administration of morphine enhanced NMDA dependent LTP in the CA1 area of hippocampal slices of rats. The p...

Recent evidence has linked striatal N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor function to the adverse effects of long-term dopaminergic treatment in Parkinson's disease. We have studied the abundance, composition, and phosphorylation of NMDA receptor subunits (NRs) in the rat 6-hydroxydopamine lesion model of parkinsonism. In lesioned striatum, the abundance of NR1 and NR2B in striatal membranes was...

N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are clustered at synapses via their association with the PSD-95 (post-synaptic density-95) membrane associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK) family of scaffolding proteins. PSD-95 is the best characterized of this family. It is known to associate with NMDA receptor NR2 subunits via a conserved ES(E/D)V amino acid sequence located at their C-termini and thus to p...