Characterization of Wild‐Type Excitatory Amino Acid Ion Channel Receptors

Abstract

AbstractThe ubiquitous distribution of EAA receptors results from the fact that EAA‐mediated neurotransmission is the most prevalent type of fast, chemically‐mediated communication in the brain and spinal cord. Indeed, EAA‐mediated neurotransmission is thought to participate in a host of physiological and pathological events including learning and memory, epilepsy, neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzhiemer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's Diseases, and the neurodegeneration associated with stroke and head trauma and neuropathic pain. Described in this unit are receptor binding assays for studying ion‐channel forming excitatory amino acid (EAA) receptors in the mammalian central nervous system. One of the three major types of ionotropic (channel‐forming) EAA receptors are the AMPA receptors, and the other two types are classified on the basis of the original agonists identified for these sites: kainic acid (kainate; KA) and N‐methyl‐D‐aspartic acid (NMDA). Thus, the three recognized ionotropic receptors are the AMPA, KA and NMDA recognition sites. Like GABA receptors, the AMPA and NMDA receptors have multiple regulatory sites.