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1: Science. 1999 Jun 11;284(5421):1811-6.Click here to read Links
Comment in:
Science. 1999 Jun 11;284(5421):1755-7.

Rapid spine delivery and redistribution of AMPA receptors after synaptic NMDA receptor activation.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, USA.

To monitor changes in alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate (AMPA) receptor distribution in living neurons, the AMPA receptor subunit GluR1 was tagged with green fluorescent protein (GFP). This protein (GluR1-GFP) was functional and was transiently expressed in hippocampal CA1 neurons. In dendrites visualized with two-photon laser scanning microscopy or electron microscopy, most of the GluR1-GFP was intracellular, mimicking endogenous GluR1 distribution. Tetanic synaptic stimulation induced a rapid delivery of tagged receptors into dendritic spines as well as clusters in dendrites. These postsynaptic trafficking events required synaptic N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation and may contribute to the enhanced AMPA receptor-mediatedtransmission observed during long-term potentiation and activity-dependent synaptic maturation.

PMID: 10364548 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]