Journal
INVERTEBRATE NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 9, Issue 1, Pages 11-20Publisher
SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
DOI: 10.1007/s10158-008-0085-3
Keywords
NMDA receptor; Leech; Long-term potentiation; Single cell RT-PCR; Synaptic plasticity
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Funding
- National Science Foundation [IBN-0432683]
- National Institutes of Health [P20 RR015567]
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The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) is involved in a number of physiological and pathophysiological processes in vertebrates, but there have been few studies examining the role of invertebrate NMDA receptors. In the leech, pharmacological evidence suggests that NMDARs contribute to synaptic plasticity, but there has been no molecular identification of NMDA receptors. In this report, a partial cDNA encoding the leech NR1 subunit of the NMDA receptor (HirNR1) is presented. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction from single neurons of the leech central nervous system confirms HirNR1 expression in the Retzius (R), Anterior Pagoda (AP), Pressure (P), and Touch (T) neurons. Immunoblotting with an anti-NR1 antibody yielded a similar to 110 kDa protein, similar to the expected weight of the NR1 subunit (similar to 116 kDa). Finally, pairing pre- and postsynaptic activity elicited long-term potentiation in synapses between neurons expressing NR1 mRNA (P-to-AP synapse) and this potentiation was blocked by the NMDAR antagonist AP5.
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