title: Thrombin regulation of synaptic transmission and plasticity: implications for health and disease.
abstract: Thrombin, a serine protease involved in the blood coagulation cascade has been shown to affect neural function following blood-brain barrier breakdown. However, several lines of evidence exist that thrombin is also expressed in the brain under physiological conditions, suggesting an involvement of thrombin in the regulation of normal brain functions. Here, we review ours' as well as others' recent work on the role of thrombin in synaptic transmission and plasticity through direct or indirect activation of Protease-Activated Receptor-1 (PAR1). These studies propose a novel role of thrombin in synaptic plasticity, both in physiology as well as in neurological diseases associated with increased brain thrombin/PAR1 levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The J. Sagol Neuroscience Center, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center Tel HaShomer, Israel.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ben Shimon
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The J. Sagol Neuroscience Center, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center Tel HaShomer, Israel ; Institute of Clinical Neuroanatomy, Neuroscience Center Frankfurt, Goethe-University Frankfurt Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Maximilian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lenz
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The J. Sagol Neuroscience Center, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center Tel HaShomer, Israel ; Institute of Clinical Neuroanatomy, Neuroscience Center Frankfurt, Goethe-University Frankfurt Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Benno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ikenberg
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neuroanatomy, Neuroscience Center Frankfurt, Goethe-University Frankfurt Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The J. Sagol Neuroscience Center, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center Tel HaShomer, Israel.
authors.forename: Efrat
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shavit Stein
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The J. Sagol Neuroscience Center, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center Tel HaShomer, Israel ; Department of Neurology, The Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Joab
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The J. Sagol Neuroscience Center, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center Tel HaShomer, Israel ; Department of Neurology, The Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tanne
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, The Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Chaim G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Pick
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The J. Sagol Neuroscience Center, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center Tel HaShomer, Israel ; Department of Neurology, The Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Ilan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Blatt
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The J. Sagol Neuroscience Center, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center Tel HaShomer, Israel ; Department of Neurology, The Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv, Israel ; Department of Neurology and Epilepsy Unit, The Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Miri
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Neufeld
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Neuroanatomy, Neuroscience Center Frankfurt, Goethe-University Frankfurt Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vlachos
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The J. Sagol Neuroscience Center, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center Tel HaShomer, Israel ; Talpiot Medical Leadership Program, The Chaim Sheba Medical Center Tel HaShomer, Israel.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maggio
keywords: clotting factors; hippocampus; long term potentiation; proteases activated receptor 1 (PAR1); synaptic plasticity; thrombin