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TY - JOUR AU - Sheng, Morgan AU - Cummings, Jennifer AU - Roldan, Leslie Ann AU - Jan, Yuh Nung AU - Jan, Lily Yeh PY - 1994 DA - 1994/03/01 TI - Changing subunit composition of heteromeric NMDA receptors during development of rat cortex JO - Nature SP - 144 EP - 147 VL - 368 IS - 6467 AB - ACTIVATION of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor is important for certain forms of activity-dependent synaptic plasticity, such as long-term potentiation (reviewed in ref. 1), and the patterning of connections during development of the visual system (reviewed in refs 2, 3). Several subunits of the NMDA receptor have been cloned: these are NMDAR1 (NR1), and NMDAR2A, 2B, 2C and 2D (NR2A-D)4–8. Based on heterologous co-expression studies, it is inferred that NR1 encodes an essential subunit of NMDA receptors and that functional diversity of NMDA receptors in vivo is effected by differential incorporation of subunits NR2A–NR2D5–8. Little is known, however, about the actual subunit composition or heterogeneity of NMDA receptors in the brain. By co-immunoprecipitation with subunit-specific antibodies, we present here direct evidence that NMDA receptors exist in rat neocortex as heteromeric complexes of considerable heterogeneity, some containing both NR2A and NR2B subunits. A progressive alteration in subunit composition seen postnatally could contribute to NMDA-receptor variation and changing synaptic plasticity during cortical development. SN - 1476-4687 UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/368144a0 DO - 10.1038/368144a0 ID - Sheng1994 ER -