The Relationship Between Surface Expression And Distribution Of NMDA Receptor And Synaptogenesis And Synaptic Function In Cultured Neurons Using GFP-Tagged NMDA Receptor Subunits

A central assumption in neurobiology holds that synapse formation and synaptic plasticity underlie the creation of functional neural circuits and nervous system plasticity. Two major subtypes of ionotropic glutamate receptors(GluRs), N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-type and a-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl -4-isoxazolepropionate ( AMPA ) -type receptors, are found localized on glutamatergic postsynaptic excitatory synapse. They fulfill coordinately the complex functional roles of glutamatergic neurotransmission. Accumulating evidence indicates that NMDA receptors are involved in many complex physiological and neuropathological mechanisms, such as neuronal developmental plasticity, long-term potentiation (LTP), learning and memory, excitotoxicity and neurodegenerative diseases etc.Three gene families that encode NMDA receptor subunits have been identified: NR1, NR2A-D, and NR3 subunit. Alternative splicing generates eight isoforms for NRl subfamily. The NR2 genes encode of four subunits...