The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor is a cation channel highly permeable to calcium and plays critical roles in governing normal and pathologic functions in neurons. Calcium entry through NMDA receptors (NMDARs) can lead to the activation of the Ca2+-dependent protease, calpain. Here we investigated the involvement of calpain in regulation of NMDAR channel function. After prolonged (5-min)...

NMDA-type glutamate receptors (NMDAR) are central actors in the plasticity of excitatory synapses. During adaptive processes, the number and composition of synaptic NMDAR can be rapidly modified, as in neonatal hippocampal synapses where a switch from predominant GluN2B- to GluN2A-containing receptors is observed after the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP). However, the cellular pathway...

OBJECTIVE To report the clinical and radiologic findings of children with NMDA receptor (NMDAR) antibodies and white matter disorders. METHOD Ten children with significant white matter involvement, with or without anti-NMDAR encephalitis, were identified from 46 consecutive NMDAR antibody-positive pediatric patients. Clinical and neuroimaging features were reviewed and the treatment and outco...

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis is an autoimmune neurological disease, diagnosed by a specific autoantibody against NMDAR. Antibody testing using commercially available cell-based assays (CBA) or immunohistochemistry on rat brain tissue has proven high specificity and sensitivity. Here we compare an immunofluorescence live CBA to a flow cytometry (FACS) based assay to detect ...

A distributed network including prefrontal and hippocampal regions is involved in context-related extinction learning as well as in renewal. Renewal describes the recovery of an extinguished response if the context of extinction differs from the context of recall. Animal studies have demonstrated that prefrontal, but not hippocampal N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonism disrupted ext...

The subunit composition of synaptic NMDA receptors (NMDAR), such as the relative content of GluN2A- and GluN2B-containing receptors, greatly influences the glutamate synaptic transmission. Receptor co-agonists, glycine and D-serine, have intriguingly emerged as potential regulators of the receptor trafficking in addition to their requirement for its activation. Using a combination of single-mol...

Little is known about the changes in protein interactions inside synapses during synaptic remodeling, as their live monitoring in spines has been limited. We used a FRET-FLIM approach in developing cultured rat hippocampal neurons expressing fluorescently tagged NMDA receptor (NMDAR) and PSD95, two essential proteins in synaptic plasticity, to examine the regulation of their interaction. NMDAR ...

Ovarian teratoma (OT) has been identified in 18%– 50% of patients with anti–N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis, and an immunopathologic relationship between these conditions has been proposed. It is currently unclear whether a subset of patients with OT harbor NMDAR antibodies before developing anti–NMDAR encephalitis. Therefore, the usefulness of systematic NMDAR antibody scree...

The NMDA subtype of glutamate receptors (NMDAR) at excitatory neuronal synapses plays a key role in synaptic plasticity. The extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1,2 or ERK) pathway is an essential component of NMDAR signal transduction controlling the neuroplasticity underlying memory processes, neuronal development, and refinement of synaptic connections. Here we show that NR2B, but not ...

Hypersalivation is one of the intractable symptoms of anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis. While anticholinergic medications partially improve the hypersalivation, they can aggravate the autonomic dysfunctions associated with anti-NMDAR encephalitis. Thus, we investigated the efficacy and safety of botulinum toxin type A injection on hypersalivation refractory to anticholine...