Spatial Coupling Tunes NMDA Receptor Responses via Ca²⁺ Diffusion.

ABSTRACT: In the CNS, NMDA receptors generate large and highly regulated Ca²⁺ signals, which are critical for synaptic development and plasticity. They are highly clustered at postsynaptic sites and along dendritic arbors, but whether this spatial arrangement affects their output is unknown. Synaptic NMDA receptor currents are subject to Ca²⁺-dependent inactivation (CDI), a type of activity-dependent inhibition that requires intracellular Ca²⁺ and calmodulin (CaM). We asked whether Ca²⁺ influx through a single NMDA receptor influences the activity of nearby NMDA receptors, as a possible coupling mechanism. Using cell-attached unitary current recordings from GluN1-2a/GluN2A receptors expressed in human HEK293 cells and from NMDA receptors native to hippocam

SUBMITTER: Iacobucci GJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6832682 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature