in vivo microdialysis was used to study the effects of morphine on glutamate release from the ventral tegmentum area (vta) in freely moving rats. intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of acute and repeated morphine at increasing doses significantly enhanced glutamate release. only a minor tolerance developed to this dosage of morphine. ap-s (2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid, 0.5 mg/kg i.p.), a nmda r...

Modification of AMPA receptor function is a major mechanism for the regulation of synaptic transmission and underlies several forms of synaptic plasticity. Post-translational palmitoylation is a reversible modification that regulates localization of many proteins. Here, we report that palmitoylation of the AMPA receptor regulates receptor trafficking. All AMPA receptor subunits are palmitoylate...

Aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) has been shown to inhibit prostate cancer cell growth in vitro. The purpose of the present study was to determine if AMPA could inhibit growth and metastasis of prostate cancer in vivo. Human prostate cancer PC-3-LacZ-luciferase cells were implanted into the ventral lateral lobes of the prostate in 39 athymic Nu/Nu nude male mice. Seven days later, mice were ra...

Synapses are highly plastic, i.e. they have the ability to change their signaling strength both in the shortand long-term (e.g. long-term potentiation LTP) in response to specific patterns of activity. In the developing brain synaptic plasticity promotes activity-dependent development, whereas in the mature brain synaptic plasticity forms the basis for learning and memory. Although both develop...

Transmembrane AMPA receptor regulatory proteins (TARPs) are AMPA receptor auxiliary subunits that influence diverse aspects of receptor function. However, the full complement of physiological roles for TARPs in vivo remains poorly understood. Here we find that double knock-out mice lacking TARPs gamma-2 and gamma-3 are profoundly ataxic and fail to thrive. We demonstrate that these TARPs are cr...

AMPA receptor (AMPA-R) complexes consist of channel-forming subunits, GluA1-4, and auxiliary proteins, including TARPs, CNIHs, synDIG1, and CKAMP44, which can modulate AMPA-R function in specific ways. The combinatorial effects of four GluA subunits binding to various auxiliary subunits amplify the functional diversity of AMPA-Rs. The significance and magnitude of molecular diversity, however, ...