NMDA-type glutamate receptors

There are three types of ionotropic glutamate receptors NMDA, a-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazoleproprionic acid (AMPA), and kainate receptors (Fig. 1). Each is principally activated by the agonist bearing its name and is permeable to cationic flux hence, their activation results in membrane depolarization. Ionotropic glutamate receptors were originally classified based on three selective, synthetic agonists quisqualate, kainate and NMDA. After the discovery of metabotropic receptors, it became clear that quisqualate also interacts with them. Since that time, quisqualate-sensitive ionotropic receptors have been classified by the more selective agonist AMPA. 

Furuyama, T., Kiyama, H., Sato, K., Park, H.T., Maeno, H., Takagi, H., Tohyama, M. Region-specific expression of subunits of ionotropic glutamate receptors (AMPA-type, KA-type, and NMDA receptors) in the rat spinal cord with special reference to nociception, Brain Res. Mol. Brain Res. 1993, 18, 141-151. 

Some receptors (eg, NMDA-type glutamate receptor)... 

AMPAR. (a-Amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid) receptor a non-NMDA-type ionotropic transmembrane receptor for glutamate that mediates fast synaptic transmission in the central nervous system. 

Memantine is a non-competitive antagonist oftheN-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) type of glutamate receptors, which are located ubiquitously throughout the brain. It regulates activity... 

V-methyl-D-aspartate receptors. Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (Ch. 15). Its receptors can be divided into three types AMPA/kainate, NMDA and metabotropic receptors. NMDA receptors are composed of two different types of subunit - NR1 and NR2. They play an important role in the induction of synaptic plasticity and excitotoxicity. 

Four main types of glutamate receptor have been identified and cloned. These are the ionotropic receptors (NMDA and alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole, AMP A, and kainate types) and a group of metabotropic receptors of which eight types have been discovered. The AMP A and kainate receptors are involved in fast excitatory transmission whereas the NMDA receptors mediate slower excitatory responses and play a more complex role in mediating synaptic plasticity. 

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