Reviews in this themed series were commissioned by Professors Tim Bliss, Satoshi Kida and Graham Collingridge. All submissions were handled by Tim Bliss and were independently and externally peer-reviewed.
Protein phosphorylation plays an important role in learning and memory. Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a serine/threonine phosphatase involved in the regulation of neural synaptic plasticity. Here, to determ...
Authors: Jing Wang, Ran Xie, Xiaolin Kou, Yu Liu, Cui Qi, Rui Liu, Weiyan You, Jun Gao and Xiang Gao
The deposition of Amyloid-beta peptides (Aβ) is detected at an earlier stage in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology. Thus, the approach toward Aβ metabolism is considered to play a critical role in the onset an...
NMDA (N-methyl-d-aspartate) receptors (NMDARs) play a central role in excitotoxic neuronal death caused by ischemic stroke, but NMDAR channel blockers have failed to be translated into clinical stroke treatmen...
The 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO) is primarily localized in the outer mitochondrial membrane of steroid-synthesizing cells in the central and peripheral nervous systems. One of the protein’s main function...
Authors: Xu-bo Li, An Liu, Le Yang, Kun Zhang, Yu-mei Wu, Ming-gao Zhao and Shui-bing Liu
Memory consolidation, reconsolidation, and extinction have been shown to share similar molecular signatures, including new gene expression. Calpain is a Ca2+-dependent protease that exerts its effects through the...
Authors: Taikai Nagayoshi, Kiichiro Isoda, Nori Mamiya and Satoshi Kida
GABAergic inhibitory transmission is involved in the acute and chronic effects of ethanol on the brain and behavior. One-dose ethanol exposure induces transient plastic changes in GABAA receptor subunit levels, c...
Depression is a polygenic and highly complex psychiatric disorder that remains a major burden on society. Antidepressants, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are some of the most commonly...
Authors: Christine N. Yohn, Mark M. Gergues and Benjamin Adam Samuels
Mounting evidence suggests that the nervous and immune systems are intricately linked. Many proteins first identified in the immune system have since been detected at synapses, playing different roles in norma...
Authors: Robert Nisticò, Eric Salter, Celine Nicolas, Marco Feligioni, Dalila Mango, Zuner A. Bortolotto, Pierre Gressens, Graham L. Collingridge and Stephane Peineau
Since 2009, evidence has accumulated to suggest that Tau aggregates form first in a small number of brain cells, from where they propagate to other regions, resulting in neurodegeneration and disease. Propagat...
Authors: Michel Goedert and Maria Grazia Spillantini
The study of glutamatergic synapses mainly focuses on the memory-related hippocampus. Recent studies in the cortical areas such as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) show that excitatory synapses can undergo ...
Support for the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) hypofunction hypothesis of schizophrenia has led to increasing focus on restoring proper glutamatergic signaling as an approach for treatment of this devastat...
Authors: James Maksymetz, Sean P. Moran and P. Jeffrey Conn
Microglia are dynamic immune cells with diverse roles in maintaining homeostasis of the central nervous system. Dysregulation of microglia has been critically implicated in the genesis of neuropathic pain. Per...
Authors: Josiane C. S. Mapplebeck, Simon Beggs and Michael W. Salter
CaMKII is a remarkably complex protein kinase, known to have a fundamental role in synaptic plasticity and memory formation. Further, CaMKII has also been suggested to be a tau kinase. CaMKII dysregulation may...
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social cognition, language development, and repetitive/restricted behaviors. Due to the complexity and heter...
Authors: Chae-Seok Lim, Jung-eun Yang, You-Kyung Lee, Kyungmin Lee, Jin-A Lee and Bong-Kiun Kaang
