Regulation of NMDA Receptor Subunit Expression and Its Implications for LTD, LTP, and Metaplasticity

By Koji Yashiro, B. Philpot. Neuropharmacology, 2008

674 citations recorded by the source corpus.

NMDA-type glutamate receptors (NMDARs) mediate many forms of synaptic plasticity. These tetrameric receptors consist of two obligatory NR1 subunits and two regulatory subunits, usually a combination of NR2A and NR2B. In the neonatal neocortex NR2B-containing NMDARs predominate, and sensory experience facilitates a developmental switch in which NR2A levels increase relative to NR2B. In this review, we clarify the roles of NR2 subunits in synaptic plasticity, and argue that a primary role of this shift is to control the threshold, rather than determining the direction, for modifying synaptic strength. We also discuss recent studies that illuminate the mechanisms regulating NR2 subunits, and suggest that the NR2A/NR2B ratio is regulated by multiple means, which may control the ratio both locally at individual synapses and globally in a cell-wide manner. Finally, we use the visual cortex as a model system to illustrate how activity-dependent modifications in the NR2A/NR2B ratio may contribute to the development of cortical functions.

Subfields: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience, Molecular Biology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/798ef1d6d3e5fd5dfacf759a9172127907d3af0b

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

1. A. Watt
2. Niraj S. Desai
3. K. Foster
4. Kevin B. Clark
5. Y. Wang
6. G. Collingridge
7. Wulfram Gerstner

In Cognitive Neuroscience

1. A. Watt
2. Niraj S. Desai
3. Kevin B. Clark
4. Wulfram Gerstner

In Molecular Biology

1. Niraj S. Desai
2. K. Foster
3. Kevin B. Clark
4. A. Watt
5. G. Collingridge
6. J. Neilson
7. Phillip A. Sharp

Citations in the corpus

• Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience Synaptic Neuroscience (positive): “NMDA receptors are heteromers consisting of two obligatory NR1 subunits and two regulatory subunits, usually a combination of NR2A and NR2B (Yashiro and Philpot, 2008).”
• Basis for a neuronal version of Grover's quantum algorithm (2014, methodology): “…and transmission plasticity (cf. Franks and Sejnowski, 2002; Bear, 2003; Malenka and Bear, 2004; Iino, 2006; Cohen and Greenberg, 2008; Levitan, 2008; Yashiro and Philpot, 2008; Okamoto et al., 2009; Catterall, 2010; Selvaraj et al., 2010; Castillo et al., 2011; Fioravante and Regehr, 2011;…”
• Long-term depression in the CNS (2010, background): “It is therefore likely that various NMDAR subtypes can trigger LTD and that the actual subtype(s) that are involved depend on various factors, such as the induction protocol that is employed, expression levels (which vary according to brain region and developmental stag”
• Regulation of synaptic structure and function by FMRP-associated microRNAs miR-125b and miR-132. (2010, positive): “, on the level of transcription or degradation) might obscure dysregulation of NR2A in FMR1 KO mice (Yashiro and Philpot, 2008).”