Rao VR, Finkbeiner S. NMDA and AMPA receptors: old channels, new tricks.
Trends Neurosci 2007;
30:284-91. [PMID:
17418904 DOI:
10.1016/j.tins.2007.03.012]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 172] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2007] [Revised: 03/14/2007] [Accepted: 03/30/2007] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Learning and memory depend on persistent changes in synaptic strength that require neuronal gene expression. An unresolved question concerns the mechanisms by which activity at synapses is transduced into a nuclear transcriptional response. In the prevailing view, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)- and alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA)-type glutamate receptors have distinct roles in controlling synaptic strength: AMPA receptors effect short-term changes in synaptic strength, whereas NMDA receptors regulate genes that are required for the long-term maintenance of these changes. Here, we review recent data on the roles of these two types of receptor in activity-dependent gene expression. We discuss evidence that signals from NMDA receptors and AMPA receptors are integrated to specify transcriptional responses for particular plasticity related genes.
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