GRIN2B

5EWM, 5EWL, 5EWJ290414812ENSG00000273079ENSMUSG00000030209Q13224Q01097NM_000834NM_008171NM_001363750NP_000825NP_032197NP_001350679Glutamate receptor subunit epsilon-2, also known as N-methyl D-aspartate receptor subtype 2B (NMDAR2B or NR2B), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the GRIN2B gene. Glutamate receptor subunit epsilon-2, also known as N-methyl D-aspartate receptor subtype 2B (NMDAR2B or NR2B), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the GRIN2B gene. N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are a class of ionotropic glutamate receptors. The NMDA receptor channel has been shown to be involved in long-term potentiation, an activity-dependent increase in the efficiency of synaptic transmission thought to underlie certain kinds of memory and learning. NMDA receptor channels are heterotetramers composed of two molecules of the key receptor subunit NMDAR1 (GRIN1) and two drawn from one or more of the four NMDAR2 subunits: NMDAR2A (GRIN2A), NMDAR2B (GRIN2B), NMDAR2C (GRIN2C), and NMDAR2D (GRIN2D). The NR2 subunit acts as the agonist binding site for glutamate, one of the predominant excitatory neurotransmitter receptors in the mammalian brain. NR2B has been associated with age- and visual-experience-dependent plasticity in the neocortex of rats, where an increased NR2B/NR2A ratio correlates directly with the stronger excitatory LTP in young animals. This is thought to contribute to experience-dependent refinement of developing cortical circuits. Both mice and rats that were engineered to over-express GRIN2B in their brains have increased mental ability. GRIN2B has been shown to interact with: This article incorporates text from the United States National Library of Medicine, which is in the public domain.