Login / Signup

Differential modulation of NMDA and AMPA receptors by cellular prion protein and copper ions.

Sun HuangLina ChenChris BladenPeter K StysGerald W. Zamponi
Published in: Molecular brain (2018)
N-Methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) and α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (AMPARs) are two major types of ionotropic glutamate receptors involved in synaptic transmission. However, excessive activity of these receptors can be cytotoxic and thus their function must be precisely controlled. We have previously reported that NMDA receptor activity is dysregulated following genetic knockout of cellular prion protein (PrPC), and that PrPC regulation of NMDA receptors is copper-dependent. Here, we employed electrophysiological methods to study NMDAR and AMPAR currents of cultured hippocampal neurons from PrPC overexpresser mice. We show that NMDA receptor current amplitude and kinetics are differentially modulated by overexpression of human or mouse PrPC. By contrast, AMPA receptor activity was unaffected. Nonetheless, AMPA receptor activity was modulated by copper ions in a manner similar to what we previously reported for NMDA receptors. Taken together, our findings reveal that AMPA and NMDA receptors are differentially regulated by PrPC, but share common modulation by copper ions.
Keyphrases
  • endothelial cells
  • type diabetes
  • transcription factor
  • metabolic syndrome
  • spinal cord injury
  • adipose tissue
  • body mass index
  • weight gain
  • amino acid
  • single cell
  • wild type
  • resting state