PURPOSE To investigate the effects and mechanisms of Kangxian (KX) capsules on hippocampal neuron convulsive injuries. METHODS An epileptic discharge model was prepared with hippocampal neurons and divided into groups that were subjected to control, Mg-free, MK801, or anti-epilepsy (KX) interventions for 6 or 24h. The N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor channel current was recorded with a wh...

Modification of synaptic NMDA receptor (NMDAR) expression influences NMDAR-mediated synaptic function and associated persistent pain. NMDARs directly bind to a family of membrane-associated guanylate kinases (MAGUKs) that regulate surface and synaptic NMDAR trafficking in the CNS. We report here that postsynaptic density-93 protein (PSD-93), a postsynaptic neuronal MAGUK, is expressed abundantl...

Cognitive dysfunction is an important aspect of the clinical characteristics of autism; however, research has often focused on social cognition. Learning and memory disorders often occur in autistic children, which are particularly under examined. Using cognitive and behavioral measures in our study, these disorders were endorsed in a valproate-induced rat model of autism. We identified increas...

INTRODUCTION In cirrhosis some toxic substances accumulate in brain and modify the expression of several neuronal receptors. Thus, the use of medicinal plants such as Rosmarinus officinalis L. has been proposed in several pathologies due to its hepatoprotective, antioxidant and neuroprotective activity. In this study we evaluated the expression of the subunits NR1, NR2A and NR2B of the glutamat...

The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) subtype of ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) is a tetrameric protein composed of homologous NR1 and NR2 subunits, which require the binding of glycine and glutamate, respectively, for efficient channel gating. The extracellular N-terminal domains (NTDs) of iGluR subunits show sequence homology to the bacterial periplasmic leucine/isoleucine/valine binding p...

AIM The aim of this study was to assess whether chronic alcohol misuse affects N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor subunit concentrations in human cases, and whether male and female subjects respond differently. METHODS Real-time RT-PCR normalized to GAPDH was used to assay NR1, NR2A and NR2B subunit mRNA in superior frontal (SFC) and primary motor (PMC) cortex tissue obtained at autopsy fro...

The neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) is the predominant carrier of alpha2,8 polysialic acid (PSA) in the mammalian brain. Abnormalities in PSA and NCAM expression are associated with schizophrenia in humans and cause deficits in hippocampal synaptic plasticity and contextual fear conditioning in mice. Here, we show that PSA inhibits opening of recombinant NMDA receptors composed of GluN1/2B...

All songbirds learn to sing during postnatal development but then display species differences in the capacity to learn song in adulthood. While the mechanisms that regulate avian vocal plasticity are not well characterized, one contributing factor may be the composition of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR). Previous studies of an anterior forebrain pathway implicated in vocal plasticity re...

A hallmark feature of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors is their voltage-dependent block by extracellular Mg2+. The structural basis for Mg2+ block is not fully understood. Although asparagine residues in the pore-forming M2 regions of NR1 and NR2 subunits influence Mg2+ block, it has been speculated that additional residues are likely to be involved. Here, we report the unexpected finding ...

Protein kinase-C (PKC) activation differentially affects currents from N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) type glutamate receptors depending upon their subunit composition. Experiments using chimeras initially indicated that the cytoplasmic C-terminal tails of NR2B (responsive to PKC) and NR2C (unresponsive to PKC) subunits contain the amino acid residues responsible for the observed disparity of PKC ...