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 N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) type of glutamate receptor is a calcium-permeable ion channel with important functions in the physiology and pathology of the mammalian brain. NMDA receptors are critical for long-lasting, activity-induced changes in synaptic transmission, a process thought to be involved in learning and memory. NMDA receptors also control neuronal survival and cell death. How ca...

The neuronal Na+-activated K+ channel Slack (aka Slo2.2, KNa1.1, or Kcnt1) has been implicated in setting and maintaining the resting membrane potential defining excitability firing patterns, as well generation of slow afterhyperpolarization following bursts action potentials. activity increases significantly under conditions high intracellular Na+ levels, suggesting this may exert important pa...

Two classes of glutamate-activated channels mediate excitation at central synapses: N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors and non-NMDA receptors. Despite substantial structural homology, each class generates signals with characteristic kinetics and mediates distinct synaptic functions. In non-NMDA receptors, the strength of intersubunit contacts within ligand-binding domains is inversely co...

Regulation of the activity of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) at glutamatergic synapses is essential for certain forms of synaptic plasticity underlying learning and memory and is also associated with neurotoxicity and neurodegenerative diseases. In this report, we investigate the role of Src-like adaptor protein (Slap) in NMDA receptor signaling. We present data showing that in dissoci...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Developmental switches in NMDA receptor subunit expression have been inferred from studies of GluN2 expression levels, changes in kinetics of glutamatergic synaptic currents and sensitivity of NMDA receptor-mediated currents to selective GluN2B antagonists. Here we use TCN 213, a novel GluN2A-selective antagonist to identify the presence of this subunit in functional NMDA...

The physiology of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors is fundamental to brain development and function. NMDA receptors are ionotropic glutamate receptors that function as heterotetramers composed mainly of GluN1 and GluN2 subunits. Activation of NMDA receptors requires binding of neurotransmitter agonists to a ligand-binding domain (LBD) and structural rearrangement of an amino-terminal domai...

It has been suggested that NR2B-containing NMDA receptors have a selective tendency to promote pro-death signalling and synaptic depression, compared to the survival promoting, synapse potentiating properties of NR2A-containing NMDA receptors. A preferential localization of NR2A-containing NMDA receptors at the synapse in maturing neurons could thus explain differences in synaptic vs. extrasyna...

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...

Striatal binding of labeled glutamate to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, D,L-alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazoleproprionic acid (AMPA) to quisqualate receptors and kainate to kainate receptors was examined in rats which had received unilateral decortications or unilateral striatal quinolinic acid lesions. One week after decortication, there were no significant changes in NMDA, qui...