INTRODUCTION Autoantibodies to the alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor and N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor are known to be the causes of autoimmune encephalitis particularly limbic encephalitis. The involvement of the peripheral nervous system is rarely reported. METHODS We analyzed the serial nerve conduction studies of a previously reported case of ...

Long-term heat acclimation (34 °C, 30d) alters the physiological responses and the metabolic state of organisms. It also improves ability to cope with hypoxic stress via a cross-tolerance mechanism. Within the brain, the hippocampal and frontal cortex neurons are the most sensitive to hypoxia and cell death is mainly caused by calcium influx via glutamate-gated ion channels, specifically NMDA a...

Dendritic ion channels play a critical role in shaping synaptic input and are fundamentally important for synaptic integration and plasticity. In the hippocampal region CA1, somato-dendritic gradients of AMPA receptors and the hyperpolarization-activated cation conductance (I(h)) counteract the effects of dendritic filtering on the amplitude, time-course, and temporal integration of distal Scha...

Studies suggest that plasticity in the infralimbic prefrontal cortex (IL) in rodents and its homolog in humans is necessary for inhibition of fear during the recall of fear extinction. The recall of extinction is impaired by locally blocking metabotropic glutamate receptor type 5 (mGluR5) activation in IL during extinction training. This finding suggests that mGluR5 stimulation may lead to IL p...

Whole cell/patch-clamp and extracellular field potential recordings were used to study the induction and expression of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor independent long-term potentiation (LTP) in area CA1 of the in vitro rat hippocampus. Induction of NMDA receptor independent LTP was prevented by manipulations that inhibited postsynaptic depolarization during tetanic stimulation: direct hyp...

Levels of ionotropic glutamate (Glu) N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA), alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA), and kainic acid (KA) receptors in rat forebrain regions were compared by quantitative in vitro receptor autoradiography after continuous treatment for 28 days with the atypical antipsychotics olanzapine, risperidone, and quetiapine, or vehicle controls. All three tr...

In this study, we examined the effects of a novel, water-soluble, putative competitive AMPA receptor antagonist, 1,2,3,6,7, 8-hexahydro-3-(hydroxyimino)-N,N,7-trimethyl-2-oxobenzo[2,1- b:3, 4-c']dipyrrole-5-sulfonamide (NS-257) on AMPA, kainate and NMDA receptors using the two-electrode voltage-clamp technique in Xenopus oocytes. All glutamate receptor subtypes were inhibited by NS-257 in a vol...

IRSp53 is an adaptor protein that acts downstream of Rac and Cdc42 small GTPases and is implicated in the regulation of membrane deformation and actin filament assembly. In neurons, IRSp53 is an abundant postsynaptic protein and regulates actin-rich dendritic spines; however, its in vivo functions have not been explored. We characterized transgenic mice deficient of IRSp53 expression. Unexpecte...

In the adult female rat, the densities of dendritic spines and synapses on hippocampal CA1 pyramidal cells are dependent upon the ovarian steroid estradiol; moreover, spine and synapse density fluctuate naturally as ovarian steroid levels vary across the estrous cycle. To determine whether the effects of estradiol on dendritic spine density require activation of specific neurotransmitter system...

Abdominal ischemia induces a pressor reflex caused mainly by C-fiber afferent stimulation. Because excitatory amino acids, such as glutamate, bind to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and non-NMDA [dl-alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionate (AMPA)] receptors and serve as important spinal neurotransmitters, we hypothesized that both receptors play a role in the abdominal ischemia pressor ...