We report a strong coupling between permeation and gating in a mutant NMDA channel (NR1 N598Q-NR2A). The channel opens to two states that differ by their conductance and, surprisingly, by their selectivity for two permeant monovalent cations, Na+ and Cs+. The two open states are linked to the closed state via a cyclic gating reaction that proceeds preferentially in one direction under biionic c...

glutamate dysregulation may be involved in the neuropathology of schizophrenia. memantine, a drug approved by the fda for the treatment of moderate to severe alzheimer's disease, acts as a partial uncompetitive nmda receptor antagonist. the aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of memantine as an adjunctive treatment to olanzapine in patients with schizophrenia. in this double-blind, pl...

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 pres...

The intrathecal (i.t.) injection of substance P (SP) and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) induce transient nociceptive response by activating neurokinin (NK) 1 NMDA receptors, respectively. We have recently reported that angiotensin (Ang) (1–7), an N-terminal fragment Ang II, could alleviate several types pain including neuropathic inflammatory spinal MAS1. Here, we investigated whether (1–7) can in...

objective(s) the central nucleus of the amygdala (cea) is a forebrain structure which is important in regulation of ingestive behavior and there is direct and circumstantial evidence to indicate that some circuits involved with feeding behavior include glutamatergic elements. the present study examined whether administration of nma (n-methyl-dl-aspartic acid) or mk801 into the cea altered water...

introduction: in the present work, spontaneous postsynaptic currents were assessed to investigate the postnatal development of excitatory postsynaptic currents in locus coeruleus neurons. methods: in this study, ampa and nmda receptor-mediated spontaneous synaptic currents in the neurons of locus coeruleus were assessed using whole cell voltage-clamp recording during the first three weeks. resu...