The Effects of the NMDAR Co-agonist D-serine on the Structure and Function of Optic Tectal Neurons in the Developing Visual System

Overview

Journal Sci Rep

Specialty Science

Date 2023 Aug 17

PMID 37591903

Authors

Zahraa Chorghay

Vanessa J Li

Anne Schohl

Arna Ghosh

Edward S Ruthazer

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The N-methyl-D-aspartate type glutamate receptor (NMDAR) is a molecular coincidence detector which converts correlated patterns of neuronal activity into cues for the structural and functional refinement of developing circuits in the brain. D-serine is an endogenous co-agonist of the NMDAR. We investigated the effects of potent enhancement of NMDAR-mediated currents by chronic administration of saturating levels of D-serine on the developing Xenopus retinotectal circuit. Chronic exposure to the NMDAR co-agonist D-serine resulted in structural and functional changes in the optic tectum. In immature tectal neurons, D-serine administration led to more compact and less dynamic tectal dendritic arbors, and increased synapse density. Calcium imaging to examine retinotopy of tectal neurons revealed that animals raised in D-serine had more compact visual receptive fields. These findings provide insight into how the availability of endogenous NMDAR co-agonists like D-serine at glutamatergic synapses can regulate the refinement of circuits in the developing brain.

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