The Journal of Neuroscience, March 4, 2009, 29(9):2948-2960; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4424-08.2009
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Cellular/Molecular
PSD-95 Uncouples Dopamine–Glutamate Interaction in the D1/PSD-95/NMDA Receptor Complex
Jingping Zhang,1
Tai-Xiang Xu,1
Penelope J. Hallett,2
Masahiko Watanabe,3
Seth G. N. Grant,4
Ole Isacson,2 and
Wei-Dong Yao1
1New England Primate Research Center, Harvard Medical School, Southborough, Massachusetts 01772, 2McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Belmont, Massachusetts 02478, 3Department of Anatomy, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan, and 4Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, United Kingdom
Correspondence should be addressed to Wei-Dong Yao at the above address. Email: wei-dong_yao{at}hms.harvard.edu
Classical dopaminergic signaling paradigms and emerging studies on direct physical interactions between the D1 dopamine (DA) receptor and the NMDA glutamate receptor predict a reciprocally facilitating, positive feedback loop. This loop, if not controlled, may cause concomitant overactivation of both D1 and NMDA receptors, triggering neurotoxicity. Endogenous protective mechanisms must exist. Here, we report that PSD-95, a prototypical structural and signaling scaffold in the postsynaptic density, inhibits D1–NMDA receptor subunit 1 (NR1) NMDA receptor association and uncouples NMDA receptor-dependent enhancement of D1 signaling. This uncoupling is achieved, at least in part, via a disinhibition mechanism by which PSD-95 abolishes NMDA receptor-dependent inhibition of D1 internalization. Knockdown of PSD-95 immobilizes D1 receptors on the cell surface and escalates NMDA receptor-dependent D1 cAMP signaling in neurons. Thus, in addition to its role in receptor stabilization and synaptic plasticity, PSD-95 acts as a brake on the D1–NMDA receptor complex and dampens the interaction between them.
Received Sept. 13, 2008;
revised Jan. 14, 2009;
accepted Jan. 22, 2009.
Correspondence should be addressed to Wei-Dong Yao at the above address. Email: wei-dong_yao{at}hms.harvard.edu