A Molecular Determinant of Subtype-Specific Desensitization in Ionotropic Glutamate Receptors.

ABSTRACT: AMPA and NMDA receptors are glutamate-gated ion channels that mediate fast excitatory synaptic transmission throughout the nervous system. In the continual presence of glutamate, AMPA and NMDA receptors containing the GluN2A or GluN2B subunit enter into a nonconducting, desensitized state that can impact synaptic responses and glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity. The process of desensitization is dramatically different between subtypes, but the basis for these differences is unknown. We generated an extensive sequence alignment of ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) from diverse animal phyla and identified a highly conserved motif, which we termed the "hydrophobic box," located at the extracellular interface of transmembrane helices. A single position in the hydrophobic box differed betw

SUBMITTER: Alsaloum M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4879209 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature