PMID: 7544846Jun 1, 1995Paper

The generation of nitric oxide and its roles in neurotransmission and neurotoxicity

The Keio Journal of Medicine
S Oh

Abstract

The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor plays a key role in synaptic plasticity and is thought to underlie memory, learning and development of the nervous system. The NMDA receptor is a ligand-gated ion channel complex that contains distinct recognition sites for endogenous and exogenous ligands, including glutamate, glycine, Mg2+, Zn2+ and noncompetitive blockers such as MK-801. In the central nervous system, nitric oxide (NO) is produced in some neurons following activation of excitatory amino acids receptors, particularly those of the NMDA receptor. Nitric oxide is synthesized from a L-arginine by the cytoplasmic enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS) which is a calcium dependent enzyme, and this pathway is inhibited by the analogues of L-arginine such as NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) and is augmented by NMDA receptor activation. Activation of the NMDA receptor results in the elevation of intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) which in turn activates NOS via the calcium-calmodulin complex. Nitric oxide is not a classical neurotransmitter in the central nervous system since it is not released by exocytosis and does not interact with a receptor protein but rather diffuses rapidly across the membrane and binds with the iron in heme-c...Continue Reading

Citations

Jun 15, 2006·Antioxidants & Redox Signaling·Joann M Gensert, Rajiv R Ratan
May 7, 2013·Neuroscience Letters·Aysegul KeserSakire Pogun
Apr 24, 2015·Molecular Neurobiology·Enrico CocchiAlessandro Serretti
Mar 23, 2018·The Bulletin of Tokyo Dental College·Ryuta KikuchiHiroki Watanabe

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