Synaptic dysfunction and adaptation after NMDA receptor ablation in the mouse medial prefrontal cortex - PubMed
6 hours ago
- #Prefrontal Cortex
- #Schizophrenia
- #NMDAR
- NMDARs in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) regulate neuronal excitability, synaptic plasticity, and cognitive function.
- Disruptions in NMDAR function mimic schizophrenia symptoms, supporting the glutamate hypothesis of schizophrenia.
- Schizophrenia is associated with abnormal NMDAR expression and decreased dendritic spine density in the PFC.
- Genetic manipulation of NMDARs alters spine density and synaptic transmission.
- Study used in vivo genome editing to ablate Grin1 gene in adolescent mice PFC neurons.
- NMDAR ablation led to an initial decrease in basilar dendritic spine density, followed by a rebound and increased AMPAR-mediated synaptic transmission.
- Effects of pan-neuronal NMDAR ablation were not observed with specific excitatory neuron manipulation.
- Findings suggest NMDAR ablation triggers reorganization of PFC networks, possibly involving compensatory processes impaired in disease states.