期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:2010
卷号:107
期号:37
页码:16315-16319
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1011706107
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:Glutamate receptors of the AMPA subtype (AMPARs) mediate fast synaptic transmission in the brain. These ionotropic receptors rely on auxiliary subunits known as transmembrane AMPAR regulatory proteins (TARPs) for both trafficking and gating. Recently, a second family of AMPAR binding proteins, referred to as cornichons, were identified and also proposed to function as auxiliary subunits. Cornichons are transmembrane proteins that modulate AMPAR function in expression systems much like TARPs. In the present study we compare the role of cornichons in controlling AMPA receptor function in neurons and HEK cells to that of TARPs. Cornichons mimic some, but not all, of the actions of TARPs in HEK cells; their role in neurons, however, is more limited. Although expressed cornichons can affect the trafficking of AMPARs, they were not detected on the surface of neurons and failed to alter the kinetics of endogenous AMPARs. This neuronal role is more consistent with that of an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone rather than a bona fide auxiliary subunit.