title: Trafficking of kainate receptors.
abstract: Ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) mediate the vast majority of excitatory neurotransmission in the central nervous system of vertebrates. In the protein family of iGluRs, kainate receptors (KARs) comprise the probably least well understood receptor class. Although KARs act as key players in the regulation of synaptic network activity, many properties and functions of these proteins remain elusive until now. Especially the precise pre-, extra-, and postsynaptic localization of KARs plays a critical role for neuronal function, as an unbalanced localization of KARs would ultimately lead to dysregulated neuronal excitability. Recently, important advances in the understanding of the regulation of surface expression, function, and agonist-dependent endocytosis of KARs have been achieved. Post-translational modifications like PKC-mediated phosphorylation and SUMOylation have been reported to critically influence surface expression and endocytosis, while newly discovered auxiliary proteins were shown to shape the functional properties of KARs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry I, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany. steffen.pahl@rub.de.
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pahl
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry I, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany. daniel.tapken@rub.de.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tapken
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry I, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany. simon.koesters@rub.de.
authors.forename: Simon C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Haering
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry I, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany. michael.hollmann@rub.de.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hollmann