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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

A High-content Assay for Monitoring AMPA Receptor Trafficking
Published on: January 28, 2019
GluA2-lacking, calcium-permeable AMPA receptors--inducers of plasticity?
1Department of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington St., Boston, MA 02215, USA. hman@bu.edu
Abstract:
AMPA receptors (AMPARs) are heterotetromeric complexes composed of GluA1-4 subunits. They are glutamate-gated channels traditionally considered solely as ion carriers for postsynaptic depolarization. However, the existence and dynamic regulation of GluA2-lacking, calcium-permeable AMPARs (Cp-AMPARs) enable these special receptors to serve also as signaling molecules presumably via calcium influx. Recent studies have implicated Cp-AMPARs in several types of synaptic plasticity, including homeostatic synaptic regulation and Hebbian synaptic plasticity. Cp-AMPARs are usually expressed transiently at an early stage of synaptic plasticity, but are then replaced with normal GluA2-containing receptors, indicating a role for Cp-AMPARs in induction, rather than the maintenance, of synaptic plasticity.
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