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Updated: Jun 9, 2026

A High-content Assay for Monitoring AMPA Receptor Trafficking
Published on: January 28, 2019
A three-step model for the synaptic recruitment of AMPA receptors
Patricio Opazo1, Daniel Choquet
1Physiologie Cellulaire de la Synapse, Université Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
Abstract:
The amount of AMPARs at synapses is not a fixed number but varies according to different factors including synaptic development, activity and disease. Because the number of AMPARs sets the strength of synaptic transmission, their trafficking is subject to fine and tight regulation. In this review, we will describe the different steps taken by AMPARs in order to reach the synapse. We propose a three-step mechanism involving exocytosis at extra/perisynaptic sites, lateral diffusion to synapses and a subsequent rate-limiting diffusional trapping step. We will describe how the different trafficking steps are regulated during synaptic plasticity or altered during neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.
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