Developmental expression of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor subunits in human white and gray matter: potential mechanism of increased vulnerability in the immature brain.

ABSTRACT: The pathophysiology of perinatal brain injury is multifactorial and involves hypoxia-ischemia (HI) and inflammation. N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) are present on neurons and glia in immature rodents, and NMDAR antagonists are protective in HI models. To enhance clinical translation of rodent data, we examined protein expression of 6 NMDAR subunits in postmortem human brains without injury from 20 postconceptional weeks through adulthood and in cases of periventricular leukomalacia (PVL). We hypothesized that the developing brain is intrinsically vulnerable to excitotoxicity via maturation-specific NMDAR levels and subunit composition. In normal white matter, NR1 and NR2B levels were highest in the preterm period compared with adult. In gray matter, NR2A and NR3A expression were hi

SUBMITTER: Jantzie LL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4303802 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature