Background:

(+)-MK 801 Maleate is a potent antagonist of NMDA with Ki value of 30.5nM [1].

MK 801 is a potent anticonvulsant exhibits both anxiolytic and sympathomimetic properties. It is found to be a noncompetitive antagonist of NMDA. MK 801 can penetrate into the central nervous system. In the in vitro assay, MK 801 binds to rat cerebral cortical membrane with high affinity in a saturable manner. This binding is reversible even when the concentration of MK 801 is up to 100μM. It is also found that the binding shows a regional specificity. Most of these binding sites are located in the hippocampus. In rat cortical-slice preparations, MK 801 causes a potent blockade of depolarizing responses to NMDA with a high selectivity. This effect is persistent. The blockade can also cause a suppression of the epileptiform activity induced by tetrodotoxin or other neurotoxin [1].

参考文献:
[1] Wong EH, Kemp JA, Priestley T, Knight AR, Woodruff GN, Iversen LL . The anticonvulsant MK-801 is a potent N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Sep;83(18):7104-8.