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Volume 16, Number 11, Issue of June 1, 1996 pp. 3549-3558
Copyright ©1996 Society for Neuroscience

Multiple Structural Elements Determine Subunit Specificity of Mg²⁺ Block in NMDA Receptor Channels

Received Nov. 8, 1995; revised March 20, 1996; accepted March 26, 1996.

Thomas Kuner¹ and Ralf Schoepfer^{1, 2}

¹ Zentrum für Molekulare Biologie der Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 282, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany, and ² University College London, Laboratory for Molecular Pharmacology, London WC1E 6BT

In NMDA receptor channels, subtype-specific differences of Mg²⁺ block are determined by the NR2 subunits. Channels assembled from the NR1-NR2A or NR1-NR2B subunits are blocked more strongly than channels formed by the NR1-NR2C or NR1-NR2D subunits, predominantly reflecting a difference in voltage dependence. A determinant of Mg²⁺ block common to the NR2 subunits is located in the M2 domain (N-site or Q/R/N-site). However, subunit-specific differences of block suggested that additional structural elements exist. Chimeric NR2 subunits were constructed by replacing segments of the least sensitive NR2C subunit with homologous segments of the most sensitive NR2B subunit. Mutant NR2 subunits were coexpressed with wild-type NR1 in Xenopus oocytes, and Mg²⁺ block was quantified. Replacement of the entire M1-M4 region resulted in a chimera with a sensitivity of Mg²⁺ block similar to that of the NR2B wild type. Replacing smaller segments or introducing point mutations did not generate channels with Mg²⁺ block characteristic of NR2B wild type. However, combining in a single chimera three small segments (M1, M2-M3 linker, M4), each independently mediating an increase in Mg²⁺ block, produced channels close to NR2B wild type. Thus, differences in Mg²⁺ block as controlled by the NR2 subunits cannot be explained by a single structural determinant in addition to the N-site. Moreover, three elements of the NR2 subunit are the major determinants of subtype-specific differences of Mg²⁺ block in heteromeric NMDA receptor channels.

Key words: NMDA; receptor; channel; structure; recombinant; Mg2+ block; voltage dependence; subunit-specific

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