title: Auxiliary subunits assist AMPA-type glutamate receptors.
abstract: Glutamate, the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, acts primarily on two types of ionotropic receptors: alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors and N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Work over the past decade indicates that regulated changes in the number of synaptic AMPA receptors may serve as a mechanism for information storage. Recent studies demonstrate that a family of small transmembrane AMPA receptor regulatory proteins (TARPs) controls both AMPA receptor trafficking and channel gating. TARPs provide the first example of auxiliary subunits of ionotropic receptors. Here we review the pivotal role that TARPs play in the life cycle of AMPA receptors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. nicoll@cmp.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Roger A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Nicoll
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tomita
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Bredt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000378:metabolism*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D015640:Ion Channel Gating; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011485:Protein Binding; D021381:Protein Transport; D018091:Receptors, AMPA / Q000378:metabolism*; D013569:Synapses / Q000378:metabolism*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission
chemical_list: C113940:Cacng2 protein, mouse; D015220:Calcium Channels; D018091:Receptors, AMPA