Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRIs) can be colocalized with ionotropic glutamate receptors in postsynaptic membranes. We have investigated whether mGluRIs alter the gene transcription induced by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and (S)-alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolpropionic acid (AMPA) receptors in rat neocortical gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) interneurons. In cultures of...

Abstract Excitatory synaptic transmission in many neurons is mediated by two coexpressed ionotropic glutamate receptor subtypes, AMPA and NMDA receptors, that differ kinetics, ion selectivity, voltage-sensitivity. receptors have fast kinetics are voltage-insensitive, while slower increased conductance at depolarized membrane potentials. Here, we report the voltage dependency of act synergistica...

Excessive glutamate signaling can lead to excitotoxicity, a phenomenon whereby over-activation of glutamate receptors initiates neuronal death. In recent years, it has been shown that glutamate can be toxic to white-matter oligodendrocytes. Up to recently, the prevailing view was that oligodendrocyte excitotoxicity is mediated by alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) a...

Delayed-rectifier Kv2.1 potassium channels regulate somatodendritic excitability during periods of repetitive, high-frequency activity. Recent evidence suggests that Kv2.1 channel modulation is linked to glutamatergic neurotransmission. Because NMDA-type glutamate receptors are critical regulators of synaptic plasticity, we investigated NMDA receptor modulation of Kv2.1 channels in rodent hippo...

The concept of ‘‘excitotoxicity’’ was introduced in 1969 when Olney and Sharpe first demonstrated that neurons exposed to their own neurotransmitter glutamate were destined to die [49]. Later on, in 1985, glutamate toxicity was associated with anoxic cell death, since anoxic depolarization resulted in the release of glutamate into the extracellular compartments [42, 54]. Similarly, in 1987, Cho...

Calcium imaging techniques were used to obtain a clear although indirect evidence about the distribution of functional glutamate receptors of NMDA and non-NMDA type in cultured hippocampal neurons during establishment of polarity and synaptogenesis. Glutamate receptors were expressed and were already functional as early as one day after plating. At this stage NMDA and non-NMDA receptors were di...

Dendrodendritic synapses between mitral (or tufted) and granule cells of the olfactory bulb play a major role in the processes of odor discrimination and olfactory learning. Release of glutamate at these synapses activates postsynaptic receptors on the dendritic spines of granule cells, as well as presynaptic NMDA receptors in the mitral cell membrane. However, immunocytochemical studies have f...

The potency of Pb2+ inhibition of glutamate-activated currents mediated by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors was dependent on the subunits composing the receptors when functionally expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Pb2+ reduced the amplitudes of glutamate-activated currents and shifted the agonist EC50 values of NMDA receptors consisting of different subunit compositions. The IC50 values...

UNLABELLED Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in rat cerebellar slices were used to investigate the effect of metabotropic glutamate receptor activation on mossy fibre-granule cell synaptic transmission. Transient application of 20 microM 1S, 3R-aminocyclopentane-1, 3-dicarboxylic acid simultaneously with low-frequency NMDA receptor activation induced long-lasting non-decremental potentiation of...