• Neuroscience · Nov 2018

    Atypical expression and activation of GluN2A and GluN2B-containing NMDA receptors at ganglion cells during retinal degeneration.

    • Christopher W Yee, Elena Ivanova, Abduqodir H Toychiev, Dianna E Willis, and Botir T Sagdullaev.
    • Weill Cornell Medicine at Burke Neurological Institute, White Plains, NY 10605, United States.
    • Neuroscience. 2018 Nov 21; 393: 61-72.

    AbstractCellular communication through chemical synapses is determined by the nature of the neurotransmitter and the composition of postsynaptic receptors. In the excitatory synapse between bipolar and ganglion cells of the retina, postsynaptic AMPA receptors mediate resting activity. During evoked response, however, more abundant and sustained levels of glutamate also activate GluN2B-containing NMDA receptors (NMDARs). This phasic recruitment of distinct glutamate receptors is essential for visual discrimination; however, the fidelity of this basic mechanism under elevated glutamate levels due to aberrant activity, a common pathophysiology, is not known. Here, in both male and female mice with retinal degeneration (rd10), a condition associated with elevated synaptic activity, we reveal that changes in synaptic input to ganglion cells altered both composition and activation of NMDARs. We found that, in contrast to wild type, the spontaneous activity of rd10 cells was largely NMDAR-dependent. Surprisingly, this activity was driven primarily by atypical activation of GluN2A -containing NMDARs, not GluN2B-NMDARs. Indeed, immunohistochemical analyses and Western blot showed greater levels of the GluN2A-NMDAR subunit expression in rd10 retina compared to wild type. Overall, these results demonstrate how aberrant signaling leads to pathway-specific alterations in NMDAR expression and function.Copyright © 2018 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…