Role of AMPA receptor desensitization in short term depression - lessons from retinogeniculate synapses

Repetitive synapse activity induces various forms of short-term plasticity. The role of presynaptic mechanisms such as residual Ca²⁺ and vesicle depletion in short-term facilitation and short-term depression is well established. On the other hand, the contribution of postsynaptic mechanisms such as receptor desensitization and saturation to short-term plasticity is less well known and often ignored. In this review, I will describe short-term plasticity in retinogeniculate synapses of relay neurons of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) to exemplify the synaptic properties that facilitate the contribution of AMPA receptor desensitization to short-term plasticity. These include high vesicle release probability, glutamate spillover and, importantly, slow recovery from desensitization of AMPA receptors. The latter is strongly regulated by the interaction of AMPA receptors with auxiliary proteins such as CKAMP44. Finally, I discuss the relevance of short-term plasticity in retinogeniculate synapses for the processing of visual information by LGN relay neurons.