The Ca(2+)-permeation properties of AMPA-receptor (AMPA-R) channels in Purkinje neurons in rat cerebellar slices were studied using a combination of whole-cell patch-clamp recordings, Fura-2 fluorometry, and single-cell reverse-transcription (RT)-PCR. Several lines of evidence indicate that Purkinje neurons, at both early and late stages of postnatal development, express exclusively AMPA-R chan...

AMPA receptor-mediated excitotoxicity is proposed to play a major pathogenic role in the selective motoneuron death of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Motoneurons have been shown in various models to be more susceptible to AMPA receptor-mediated injury than other spinal neurons. It has been hypothesized that this selective vulnerability of motoneurons is caused by the expression of highly Ca(2+)...

During the first week of life, there is a shift from kainate to AMPA receptor-mediated thalamocortical transmission in layer IV barrel cortex. However, the mechanisms underlying this change and the differential properties of AMPA and kainate receptor-mediated transmission remain essentially unexplored. To investigate this, we studied the quantal properties of AMPA and kainate receptor-mediated ...

AMPA receptors are the main excitatory neurotransmitter receptor in the brain, and hence regulating the number or properties of synaptic AMPA receptors brings about critical changes in synaptic transmission. Synaptic plasticity is thought to underlie learning and memory, and can be brought about by decreasing or increasing the number of AMPA receptors localised to synaptic sites by precisely re...

Heparin was found to bind to alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid (AMPA) receptors and to alter their functional properties. AMPA receptors solubilized in 0.4% Triton X-100 bound to a heparin-agarose column and were eluted by 0.4 M NaCl. Soluble heparin inhibited 10 nM [3H]AMPA binding to detergent-solubilized receptors by 75% (IC50 = 10 micrograms/ml), but had little effect...

The AMPA-type glutamate receptors mediate the majority of the fast excitatory synaptic transmission and critically contribute to synaptic plasticity in the brain, hence the existence of numerous trafficking proteins dedicated to regulation of their synaptic delivery and turnover. Stargazin (also termed gamma2) is a member of a recently identified protein family termed transmembrane AMPA recepto...

Central glutamatergic synapses may express AMPA-sensitive glutamate receptors (AMPA-Rs) with distinct gating properties and exhibit different transmission dynamics, which are important for computing various synaptic inputs received at different populations of synapses. However, how glutamatergic synapses acquire AMPA-Rs with distinct kinetics to influence synaptic integration remains poorly und...

1999) studies showing that some synapses contain Excitatory synapses in the CNS release glutamate, NMDA receptors but no AMPA receptors. which acts primarily on two types of ionotropic recepIn addition to LTP, synapses can also undergo longtors: AMPA receptors and NMDA receptors. AMPA term depression (LTD). A more modest and prolonged receptors mediate the postsynaptic depolarization activation...