Ampa Receptors Get 'pickled'

摘要

In mediating fast synaptic communication in the brain, AMPA receptors require TARP auxiliary proteins. It seems that another distinct class of proteins also bind to AMPA receptors and regulate their function.rnIt is now well established that ion channels are not solitary creatures, but often have an entourage of auxiliary proteins. Indeed, voltage-gated potassium, sodium and calcium channels form stable complexes with an assortment of both cytoplasmic and transmembrane proteins that profoundly affect their localization and function. The ligand-gated cation channels referred to as AMPA receptors (AMPARs) - a subtype of receptors activated by the neurotransmitter glutamate - are also known to robustly and selectively interact with a family of proteins termed transmembrane AMPA-receptorrnregulatory proteins (TARPs). As the first known examples of auxiliary subunits for ligand-gated ion channels, TARPs regulate both the surface expression and biophysical properties of AMPARs. Writing in Science, Schwenk et al. describe the unexpected interaction between AMPARs and another family of transmembrane proteins, named after the French word for a type of pickle - the cornichons. They find that, like TARPs, cornichons seem to influence both the intracellular trafficking and gating activity of AMPARs (Fig. 1, overleaf).