Effects of Zinc, Mercury, or Lead on [H]MK-801 and [H]Fluorowillardiine Binding to Rat Synaptic Membranes.

Glutamate (Glu) is considered the most important excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter in the mammalian Central Nervous System. Zinc (Zn) is co-released with Glu during synaptic transmission and interacts with Glutamate receptors and transporters. We performed binding experiments using [H]MK-801 (NMDA), and [H]Fluorowillardine (AMPA) as ligands to study Zn-Glutamate interactions in rat cortical synaptic membranes.