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Expression of NMDA Receptor and its Effect on Cell Proliferation in the Subventricular Zone of Neonatal Rat Brain

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Abstract

We investigated the involvement of N-methyl d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) in neurogenesis of rat’s subventricular zone (SVZ). For this purpose, we determined expression of the NMDAR subunits NR1, NR2A, and NR2B in SVZ of the neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats using immunohistochemical techniques. All three NMDAR subunits were expressed during postnatal day (PND)-1 to PND-28 whereas each subunit showed a distinct expression pattern. We also examined the functional effect of this receptor on cell proliferation in this region and, in this regard, the animals received either intraperitoneal injection of NMDAR agonist NMDA (2 mg/kg/day) or selective non-competitive NMDAR antagonist MK-801 (10 mg/kg) or NR2B antagonist Ro25-6981 (40 mg/kg), respectively, at PND-3. A significant developmental increase of the total cell density was observed at PND-7 (P < 0.05) while proliferating cell nuclear antigen-positive cell density was significantly increased at PND-14 (P < 0.05) and at PND-28 (P < 0.05) in the SVZ after NMDA (2 mg/kg/day) injection. Our data show that the NMDAR activation promoted the cell proliferation in SVZ during the neonatal period. We, therefore, inferred that NMDAR is expressed in SVZ of the neonatal rat brain and can promote neurogenesis, as through cell proliferation process in that region, and can thus be used as a potential therapeutic target in neurodegenerative diseases.

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported by grants from the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK2009087).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neurodegeneration, Department of Pharmacology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China

    Hongbin Fan & Xiaoxing Yin

  2. Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, 221002, China

    Hongbin Fan, Wei Wang & Xiaoquan Li

  3. Department of Anatomy, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China

    Junying Gao & Teijun Xu

  4. Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Xuzhou Medical College, 84 West Huaihai Road, Xuzhou, 221004, Jiangsu, China

    Teijun Xu

  5. Department of Clinical Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Xuzhou Medical College, 84 West Huaihai Road, Xuzhou, 221004, Jiangsu, China

    Xiaoxing Yin

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  1. Hongbin Fan
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Correspondence to Teijun Xu or Xiaoxing Yin.

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Fan, H., Gao, J., Wang, W. et al. Expression of NMDA Receptor and its Effect on Cell Proliferation in the Subventricular Zone of Neonatal Rat Brain. Cell Biochem Biophys 62, 305–316 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-011-9302-5

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