NMDA and non-NMDA receptors are co-localized at individual excitatory synapses in cultured rat hippocampus (original) (raw)

Nature volume 341, pages 230–233 (1989)Cite this article

Abstract

A CENTRAL assumption about long-term potentiation in the hip-pocampus is that the two classes of glutamate-receptor ion channel, the _N_-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and the kainate/quisqualate (non-NMDA) subtypes, are co-localized at individual excitatory synapses1,2. This assumption is important because of the perceived interplay between NMDA and non-NMDA receptors in the induc-tion and expression of long-term potentiation: the NMDA class, by virtue of its voltage-dependent channel block by magnesium3,4 and calcium permeability5,6, provides the trigger for the induction of long-term potentiation, whereas the actual enhancement of synaptic efficacy is thought to be provided by the non-NMDA class7,9. If both receptor subtypes are present at the one synapse, such cross-modulation could occur rapidly and locally through diffusible factors. By measuring miniature synaptic currents in cultured hippocampal neurons we show that the majority (∼70%) of the excitatory synapses on a postsynaptic cell possess both kinds of receptor, although to different extents. Of the remaining excita-tory synapses, ∼20% contain only the non-NMDA subtype and the rest possess only NMDA receptors. This finding provides direct evidence for co-localization of glutamate-receptor subtypes at individual synapses, and also points to the possibility that long-term potentiation might be differentially expressed at each synapse according to the mix of receptor subtypes at that synapse.

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  1. Section of Molecular Neurobiology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University Medical School, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, Connecticut, 06510, USA
    John M. Bekkers & Charles F. Stevens

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  1. John M. Bekkers
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  2. Charles F. Stevens
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Bekkers, J., Stevens, C. NMDA and non-NMDA receptors are co-localized at individual excitatory synapses in cultured rat hippocampus.Nature 341, 230–233 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/341230a0

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