|
|
||||||||
The Journal of Neurophysiology Vol. 88 No. 1 July 2002, pp. 41-48
Copyright ©2002 by the American Physiological Society
1Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, 2Program in Neuroscience, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157
Crowder, Tara L. and
Jeff L. Weiner.
Functional Characterization of Kainate Receptors in the Rat
Nucleus Accumbens Core Region. J. Neurophysiol. 88: 41-48, 2002. The nucleus accumbens, a brain region
involved in motivation, attention, and reward, receives substantial
glutamatergic innervation from many limbic structures. This excitatory
glutamatergic input plays an integral role in both normal and
pathophysiological states. Despite the importance of glutamatergic
transmission in the nucleus accumbens, the specific receptor subtypes
that mediate glutamatergic signaling in this brain region have not been
fully characterized. The current study sought to examine the possible
role of the kainate subclass of glutamate receptor in the nucleus
accumbens. Kainate receptors are relatively poorly understood members
of the ionotropic glutamate receptor family and are highly expressed in
the nucleus accumbens. Recent studies have highlighted a number of
novel pre- and postsynaptic functions of kainate receptors in several
other brain regions. Using the whole cell patch-clamp technique, we report the first demonstration of functional kainate receptors on
neurons within the core region of the nucleus accumbens. In addition,
we present evidence that activation of kainate receptors in this brain
region inhibits excitatory synaptic transmission via a presynaptic mechanism.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
T. L. Crowder, O. J. Ariwodola, and J. L. Weiner Ethanol Antagonizes Kainate Receptor-Mediated Inhibition of Evoked GABAA Inhibitory Postsynaptic Currents in the Rat Hippocampal CA1 Region J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., December 1, 2002; 303(3): 937 - 944. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| Visit Other APS Journals Online |