Increased levels of glutamate and the subsequent activation of NMDA receptors are responsible for neuronal damage that occurs after an ischemic or hypoxic episode. In the present work, we investigated the relative contribution of presynaptic and postsynaptic blockade of synaptic transmission, as well as of blockade of NMDA receptors, for the facilitation of recovery of synaptic transmission in ...

Basal synaptic transmission involves the release of neurotransmitters at individual synapses in response to a single action potential. Recent discoveries show that astrocytes modulate the activity of neuronal networks upon sustained and intense synaptic activity. However, their ability to regulate basal synaptic transmission remains ill defined and controversial. Here, we show that astrocytes i...

Guanosine 5'-triphosphate (GTP)-binding proteins (G proteins) are involved in exocytosis, endocytosis, and recycling of vesicles in yeast and mammalian secretory cells. However, little is known about their contribution to fast synaptic transmission. We loaded guanine nucleotide analogs directly into a giant nerve terminal in rat brainstem slices. Inhibition of G-protein activity had no effect o...

Trans-synaptic interactions organize the multiple steps of synaptic development and are critical to generate fully functional neuronal circuits. While trans-synaptic primarily mediated by cell adhesion molecules (CAMs), some directly involve ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs). Here, we review expanding extracellular proteome iGluRs. We discuss role these molecular networks in specifying fo...

The term synaptic plasticity points to a series of persistent changes related to the activity of synapses. Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a reflection of synaptic plasticity that has an important role in learning and memory. LTP is a long-lasting increase of synaptic activity due to enhancement of excitatory synaptic transmission after a high-frequency train of electrical stimulations. Differe...