title: 2B or not 2B: a tail of two NMDA receptor subunits.
abstract: N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation can be neuroprotective or neurotoxic depending on receptor location. In this issue of Neuron, Martel et al. (2012) demonstrate that the C-terminal of NMDA receptor subunits also contributes critically to excitotoxicity. NMDA receptor subunits containing the GluN2B C-terminal are more lethal than those containing the GluN2A tails, regardless of location.
authors.affiliation: Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Brain Research Institute, The David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cepeda
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Levine