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Updated: Aug 20, 2026

Inducing Plasticity of Astrocytic Receptors by Manipulation of Neuronal Firing Rates
Published on: March 20, 2014
Activation of postsynaptic Ca(2+) stores modulates glutamate receptor cycling in hippocampal neurons
Brady J Maher1, Roger L Mackinnon, Jihong Bai
1Department of Molecular Biosciences, 4006 Haworth Hall, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045-2106, USA.
Abstract:
We show that activation of postsynaptic inositol 1,4,5-tris-phosphate receptors (IP(3)Rs) with the IP(3)R agonist adenophostin A (AdA) produces large increases in AMPA receptor (AMPAR) excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC) amplitudes at hippocampal CA1 synapses. Co-perfusion of the Ca(2+) chelator bis-(o-aminophenoxy)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid strongly inhibited AdA-enhanced increases in EPSC amplitudes. We examined the role of AMPAR insertion/anchoring in basal synaptic transmission. Perfusion of an inhibitor of synaptotagmin-soluble n-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein (SNAP) receptor SNARE-mediated exocytosis depressed basal EPSC amplitudes, whereas a peptide that inhibits GluR2/3 interactions with postsynaptic density-95 (PDZ) domain proteins glutamate receptor interacting protein (GRIP)/protein interacting with C-kinase-1 (PICK1) enhanced basal synaptic transmission. These results suggest that constitutive trafficking and anchoring of AMPARs help maintain basal synaptic transmission. The regulation of postsynaptic AMPAR trafficking involves synaptotagmin-SNARE-mediated vesicle exocytosis and interactions between AMPARs and the PDZ domains in GRIP/PICK1. We show that inhibitors of synaptotagmin-SNARE-mediated exocytosis, or interactions between AMPARs and GRIP/PICK1, attenuated AdA-enhanced increases in EPSC amplitudes. These results suggest that IP(3)R-mediated Ca(2+) release can enhance AMPAR EPSC amplitudes through mechanisms that involve AMPAR-PDZ interactions and/or synaptotagmin-SNARE-mediated receptor trafficking.
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