NMDA receptors gene studies

While the conditional gene knockout experiments are supportive of a role for the NMDA receptors in memory, they are less than fully conclusive in linking the synaptic coincidence-detection feature of the NMDA receptor to memory formation. Like all loss-of-function studies, CA1-specific gene-knockout experiments could, in theory, produce memory impairment via a mechanism independent of the coincidence-detection function of the NMDA receptor. For example, one may argue that the physical absence of the NMDA receptor channels may cause subtle structural reconfiguration at the synapse, thereby altering normal synaptic transmission. Therefore, the memory impairment in CA1-specific NR1 knockout mice does not allow a firm conclusion that the coincidence-detection function of NMDA receptors controls learning and memory processes at the cellular level. 

Di Maria E, Gulli R, Begni S, De Luca A, Bignotti S, et al. 2004. Variations in the NMDA receptor subunit 2B gene (GRIN2B) and schizophrenia A case-control study. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 128 27-29. 

Li D, He L. 2007a. Association study between the NMDA receptor 2B subunit gene (GRIN2B) and schizophrenia A HuGE review and meta-analysis. Genet Med 9 4-8. 

Mishina, 1995) which are encoded by separate genes and several splice variants for each gene have been described (Danysz and Parsons, 1998). On the basis of morphological studies, it has been shown that NMDA receptors are probably heteromeric assemblies of at least four subunits, with their composition depending from the regional expression in different brain areas (Danysz and Parsons,... 

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