On the mechanism of calcium permeability and magnesium block in NMDA receptors - a central molecular paradigm in neuroplasticity.

ABSTRACT: Neuroplasticity is a fundamental cellular mechanism underlying learning and memory formation and is primed by the coincidental detection of neurotransmitter release from the presynapse and the subsequent calcium influx upon voltage change in the postsynaptic membrane (Bliss and Collingridge, 1993). Molecular assemblies that achieve these events are N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs), which bind the neurotransmitter glutamate and a co-agonist, either glycine or D-serine, and allow Ca²⁺ influx upon relief of the Mg²⁺ channel blockade by membrane depolarization. However, the molecular basis governing Ca²⁺ permeability and Mg²⁺ blockade in NMDAR remains limited. Here, we demonstrate that Ca²⁺ permea on through the narrow constriction

SUBMITTER: Steigerwald R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12637613 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature