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Overview of the NMDA Receptor

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The NMDA Receptors

Part of the book series: The Receptors ((REC,volume 30))

Abstract

The N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) is a glutamate-gated ion channel that is critically involved in physiological and pathological functions in the central nervous system (CNS). Over the last 25 years, molecular biological studies revealed the molecular diversity of NMDAR subunits, the structural basis of NMDAR functions, and the in vivo functions of NMDAR subunits. Because NMDAR is involved in many diseases including neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders, development of NMDAR-selective agonists and antagonists have great therapeutic potentials. In this chapter, I present an overview of the structure and function of NMDAR from molecular biological aspects.

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Abbreviations

AD:

Alzheimer’s disease

AMPA:

α-Amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid

APV:

D-2-Amino-5-phosphono-valerate

ATD:

Amino-terminal domain

CNS:

Central nervous system

CTD:

Carboxy-terminal domain

GluR:

Glutamate receptor

KO:

Gene knockout

LBD:

Ligand-binding domain

LTP:

Long-term potentiation

NMDA:

N-methyl- d-aspartate

PSD:

Postsynaptic density

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Acknowledgements

I thank Miss Kiyomi Nakagawa for the preparation of the figures. Parts of this work was supported by a Grant from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan (Grant No. 25293059).

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The author declare that I have no conflicts of interst with the contents of this article.

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  1. Department of Molecular Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, Sugitani 2630, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan

    Hisashi Mori

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Correspondence to Hisashi Mori .

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  1. Division of Clinical Neuroscience, Chiba University Center for Forensic Mental Health, Chiba, Japan

    Kenji Hashimoto

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Mori, H. (2017). Overview of the NMDA Receptor. In: Hashimoto, K. (eds) The NMDA Receptors. The Receptors, vol 30. Humana Press, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49795-2_1

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