Recruitment of the kainate receptor subunit glutamate receptor 6 by cadherin/catenin complexes

J Neurosci. 2002 Aug 1;22(15):6426-36. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.22-15-06426.2002.

Abstract

Kainate receptors modulate synaptic transmission by acting either at presynaptic or at postsynaptic sites. The precise localization of kainate receptors as well as the mechanisms of targeting and stabilization of these receptors in neurons are largely unknown. We have generated transgenic mice expressing the kainate receptor subunit glutamate receptor 6 (GluR6) bearing an extracellular myc epitope (myc-GluR6), in forebrain neurons, in which it assembles with endogenous kainate receptor subunits. In transgenic mice crossed with GluR6-deficient mice, myc-GluR6 efficiently rescues the missing subunit. Immunoprecipitation of transgenic brain extracts with anti-myc antibodies demonstrates an interaction with cadherins, beta-catenin, and p120 catenin, as well as with the associated proteins calcium calmodulin-dependent serine kinase and Velis, but not with alpha-catenin. In glutathione S-transferase-pulldown experiments, beta-catenin interacts, although indirectly, with the last 14 aa of GluR6. Transfected myc-GluR6 colocalizes with beta-catenin at cell-cell junctions in non-neuronal cells. Finally, activation of N-cadherins by ligand-covered latex beads recruits GluR6 to cadherin/catenin complexes. These results suggest an important role for cadherin/catenin complexes in the stabilization of kainate receptors at the synaptic membrane during synapse formation and remodeling.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Brain Chemistry
  • Cadherins / metabolism*
  • Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases*
  • Carrier Proteins / metabolism
  • Catenins
  • Cell Adhesion Molecules / metabolism*
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Crosses, Genetic
  • Cytoskeletal Proteins / metabolism*
  • Delta Catenin
  • Female
  • GluK2 Kainate Receptor
  • Guanylate Kinases
  • Humans
  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Nucleoside-Phosphate Kinase / metabolism
  • Patch-Clamp Techniques
  • Phosphoproteins / metabolism*
  • Protein Binding / physiology
  • Protein Subunits
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc / genetics
  • Pyramidal Cells / metabolism
  • Rats
  • Receptors, Glutamate / metabolism
  • Receptors, Kainic Acid / genetics
  • Receptors, Kainic Acid / metabolism*
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / metabolism
  • Trans-Activators / metabolism*
  • beta Catenin

Substances

  • CTNNB1 protein, human
  • CTNNB1 protein, mouse
  • Cadherins
  • Carrier Proteins
  • Catenins
  • Cell Adhesion Molecules
  • Ctnnb1 protein, rat
  • Cytoskeletal Proteins
  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Phosphoproteins
  • Protein Subunits
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc
  • Receptors, Glutamate
  • Receptors, Kainic Acid
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins
  • Trans-Activators
  • beta Catenin
  • CASK kinases
  • Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases
  • Nucleoside-Phosphate Kinase
  • Guanylate Kinases
  • Delta Catenin