Hypoxia-Induced Activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate Receptors Causes Retinal Ganglion Cell Death in the Neonatal Retina

Abstract

It is well established that hypoxia causes excess accumulation of glutamate in developing neural tissues. This study aimed to elucidate the mechanism by which glutamate can cause retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death through the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors (NR) in the developing retina. One-day-old Wistar rats were exposed to hypoxia for 2 hours and then killed at different time points. Normal age-matched rats were used as controls. NR1, NR2A-D, and NR3A messenger RNA and protein expression showed significant increases over control values, notably at early time points (3 hours to 7 days) after the hypoxic exposure, and immunoexpression of NR1, NR2A-D and NR3A on retinal ganglion cells ..