Ultimate Translation: Developing Therapeutics Targeting on N-Methyl-d-Aspartate Receptor

Glutamatergic neurotransmission: A potential pharmacotherapeutic target for the treatment of cognitive disorders

In the mammalian brain, glutamate is regarded to be the primary excitatory neurotransmitter due to its widespread distribution and wide range of metabolic functions. Glutamate plays key roles in regulating neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, neurite outgrowth, and neuron survival in the brain. Ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors, neurotransmitters, neurotensin, neurosteroids, and others co-ordinately formulate a complex glutamatergic network in the brain that maintains optimal excitatory neurotransmission. Cognitive activities are potentially synchronized by the glutamatergic activities in the brain via restoring synaptic plasticity. Dysfunctional glutamate receptors and other glutamatergic components are responsible for the aberrant glutamatergic activity in the brain that cause cognitive impairments, loss of synaptic plasticity, and neuronal damage. Thus, controlling the brain's glutamatergic transmission and modifying glutamate receptor function could be a potential therapeutic strategy for cognitive disorders. Certain drugs that regulate glutamate receptor activities have shown therapeutic promise in improving cognitive functions in preclinical and clinical studies. However, several issues regarding precise functional information of glutamatergic activity are yet to be comprehensively understood. The present article discusses the scope of developing glutamatergic systems as prospective pharmacotherapeutic targets to treat cognitive disorders. Special attention has been given to recent developments, challenges, and future prospects.

Novel object recognition and object location tasks in zebrafish: Influence of habituation and NMDA receptor antagonism

This study aims to establish a protocol for evaluating the object recognition memory and object location tasks in zebrafish. We evaluated novel the object recognition memory and analyzed the exploration time of the objects during training and testing. Zebrafish explored more the new object in comparison to the familiar object (61% of exploration time during test session). We also tested the object location task and measured the exploration time of each object in the familiar and novel object location. There was a preference to explore the object in the novel location (63% of exploration time during test session). The effect of the non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801 was investigated on the object recognition and object location memory. Control (water only) and treated animals (5 μM MK-801) presented a significant preference in exploring the familiar object in comparison to the new object (66 and 68% of exploration time, respectively, during test session); however, 10 μM MK-801-treated animals did not show differences in the exploration time of the objects. In the object location task, the animals treated with the 5 or 10 μM MK-801 did not show a preference for the familiar or novel location whereas the control group had a higher preference in exploring the object in the familiar location (64% of exploration time during test session). Considering the different responses of the control group between original task and in the regimen treatment, we evaluated the impact of habituation on cortisol levels of animals in three different protocols: (1) habituated at the experiment apparatus for 3 days (C1 condition), (2) habituated at the experiment apparatus for 3 days plus treatment tank exposure at fourth day (C2 condition), (3) habituated at the treatment tank and experiment apparatus for 3 days and exposed to treatment tank again at fourth day (C3 condition). The results showed higher levels of cortisol in animals submitted to C2 and C3 conditions compared to animals submitted to C1. When introduced to an acute stressor during C1 condition, we observed an increase in the cortisol levels and an absence of preference for the objects in comparison to control group, which had a preference for novel object and novel location. Fluoxetine treatment induced a decrease in cortisol levels and an absence of preference for the objects in C2 and C3 conditions in comparison to control group, which had a preference for familiar object. However, fluoxetine treatment induced a preference to the novel location in C2 and C3 conditions in comparison to control group, which had a preference for familiar location. These results indicate that treatment tank exposure induced a different performance in object recognition and object location memory due to stress responses. Therefore, these tasks are prone to evaluate memory in physiological and pathological conditions, but its use is limited due to sensitivity to stress caused by manipulation.

Simulated Dynamics of Glycans on Ligand-Binding Domain of NMDA Receptors Reveals Strong Dynamic Coupling between Glycans and Protein Core

N-Methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, key neuronal receptors playing the central role in learning and memory, are heavily glycosylated in vivo. Astonishingly little is known about the structure, dynamics, and physiological relevance of glycans attached to them. We recently demonstrated that certain glycans on the ligand binding domain (LBD) of NMDA receptors (NMDARs) can serve as intramolecular potentiators, changing EC50 of NMDAR coagonists. In this work, we use molecular dynamics trajectories, in aggregate 86.5 μs long, of the glycosylated LBD of the GluN1 subunit of the NMDAR to investigate the behavior of glycans on NMDARs. Though all glycans in our simulations were structurally the same (Man5), the dynamics of glycans at different locations on NMDARs was surprisingly different. The slowest-time scale motions that we detected in various glycans in some cases corresponded to a flipping of parts of glycans relative to each other, while in other cases they reduced to a head-to-tail bending of a glycan. We predict that time scales of conformational changes in glycans on the GluN1 LBD of NMDARs range from nanoseconds to at least hundreds of microseconds. Some of the conformational changes in the glycans correlate with the physiologically important clamshell-like opening and closing of the GluN1 LBD domain. Thus, glycans are an integral part of NMDARs, and computational models of NMDARs should include glycans to faithfully represent the structure and the dynamics of these receptors.

Parkin Deficiency Reduces Hippocampal Glutamatergic Neurotransmission by Impairing AMPA Receptor Endocytosis

Mutations in the gene encoding Parkin, an E3 ubiquitin ligase, lead to juvenile-onset Parkinson's disease by inducing the selective death of midbrain dopaminergic neurons. Accumulating evidence indicates that Parkin also has an important role in excitatory glutamatergic neurotransmission, although its precise mechanism of action remains unclear. Here, we investigate Parkin's role at glutamatergic synapses of rat hippocampal neurons. We find that Parkin-deficient neurons exhibit significantly reduced AMPA receptor (AMPAR)-mediated currents and cell-surface expression, and that these phenotypes result from decreased postsynaptic expression of the adaptor protein Homer1, which is necessary for coupling AMPAR endocytic zones with the postsynaptic density. Accordingly, Parkin loss of function leads to the reduced density of postsynaptic endocytic zones and to impaired AMPAR internalization. These findings demonstrate a novel and essential role for Parkin in glutamatergic neurotransmission, as a stabilizer of postsynaptic Homer1 and the Homer1-linked endocytic machinery necessary for maintaining normal cell-surface AMPAR levels.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT

Mutations in Parkin, a ubiquitinating enzyme, lead to the selective loss of midbrain dopaminergic neurons and juvenile-onset Parkinson's disease (PD). Parkin loss of function has also been shown to alter hippocampal glutamatergic neurotransmission, providing a potential explanation for PD-associated cognitive impairment. However, very little is known about Parkin's specific sites or mechanisms of action at glutamatergic synapses. Here, we show that Parkin deficiency leads to decreased AMPA receptor-mediated activity due to disruption of the postsynaptic endocytic zones required for maintaining proper cell-surface AMPA receptor levels. These findings demonstrate a novel role for Parkin in synaptic AMPA receptor internalization and suggest a Parkin-dependent mechanism for hippocampal dysfunction that may explain cognitive deficits associated with some forms of PD.