title: NMDA receptor redox sites: are they targets for selective neuronal protection?
abstract: NMDA receptors play a central role in neuronal plasticity and in several pathological situations. Transient activation of this receptor triggers long-term potentiation, whereas sustained activation leads to cell death. Evidence for control of this activity by a redox site in cell cultures, brain tissues and in recombinant NMDA receptors are discussed by Henri Gozlan and Yehezkel Ben-Ari. The characteristics of this modulation and the consequences of redox state modifications on NMDA-mediated events are examined in vitro under physiological and pathological conditions. Since metabolic disorders enhance NMDA receptor function, the redox site could constitute a new target for selectively preventing in vivo the deleterious consequences of overactivation without blocking neuronal plasticity mediated by NMDA receptors.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U-29, Hôpital de Port-Royal, Paris, France.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gozlan
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ben-Ari
mesh_terms: D000478:Alkylation; D000818:Animals; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000378:metabolism; D005609:Free Radicals; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007511:Ischemia / Q000378:metabolism; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013439:Sulfhydryl Reagents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects; D014982:Xenopus laevis
chemical_list: D005609:Free Radicals; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds; D013439:Sulfhydryl Reagents; D001205:Ascorbic Acid