Phosphorylation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors is a major regulatory mechanism underlying synaptic plasticity. However, changes in NMDA receptors and phosphorylation after traumatic brain injury (TBI) remain incompletely understood. Using an animal TBI model, we observed that the protein level of NMDA receptor subunit NR2B was downregulated in synaptosomal fractions obtained from the ...

several studies point to an important function of cyclooxygenase (cox) and prostaglandin signaling in models of synaptic plasticity which is associated with n-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (nmdars). cyclooxygenase gene is suggested to be an immediate early gene that is tightly regulated in neurons by nmda dependent synaptic activity. nonsteroid antiinflammatory drugs (nsaids) exert their antiinf...

Spinal cord injury (SCI) impairs descending glutamatergic neurotransmission reaching ventral motor neurons (VMN). Previously we reported up-regulation of NMDA receptor subunits NR1 and NR2A mRNAs in VMN caudal to the lesion site 24 h after SCI. The absence of effect rostral to the injury site suggested that injury-induced loss of descending activity might be involved. To test this hypothesis, w...

Hyperoside (Hyp) is a flavonoid compound isolated from a folk remedy, Rhododendron ponticum L. leaves. It has been shown to have neuroprotective effects both in vivo and in vitro. However, little is known about the effects of Hyp on the neuronal apoptosis induced by glutamate. The present study showed that Hyp significantly attenuated, in a concentration-dependent manner, the apoptosis induced ...

Olfaction is a principal sensory modality in rodents, and rats quickly learn to discriminate between odors and to associate odor with reward. Here we show that such olfactory discrimination (OD) learning consists of two phases with distinct cellular mechanisms: an initial NMDAR-sensitive phase in which the animals acquire a successful behavioral strategy (rule learning), followed by an NMDAR-in...

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common form of partial epilepsy and affects 40% of the patients. Seizures arising from the mesial temporal lobe structures (i.e., amygdala and hippocampus) are common, whereas neocortical seizures are rare. In recent years, many studies aimed to identify the pattern of gene expression of neurotransmitters involved in molecular mechanisms of epilepsy. We ...

Neuronal death induced by overactivation of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) is implicated in the pathophysiology of many neurodegenerative diseases such as stroke, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury. This toxic effect is mainly mediated by NR2B-containing extrasynaptic NMDARs, while NR2A-containing synaptic NMDARs contribute to cell survival, suggesting the possibility of therapeutic a...