RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 GluR6/KA2 Kainate Receptors Mediate Slow-Deactivating Currents
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 6402
OP 6406
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1204-08.2008
VO 28
IS 25
A1 Barberis, Andrea
A1 Sachidhanandam, Shankar
A1 Mulle, Christophe
YR 2008
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/28/25/6402.abstract
AB Kainate receptors (KARs) are ionotropic glutamate receptors contributing to EPSCs with a slow-decaying component that is likely essential for synaptic integration. The slow kinetics of KAR-EPSCs markedly contrasts with the fast kinetics reported for recombinant KARs expressed in heterologous systems, for reasons that remain unexplained. Here we have studied the properties of recombinant heteromeric GluR6/KA2 receptors, which compose synaptic KARs. We report that, in response to brief glutamate applications, currents mediated by recombinant GluR6/KA2 receptors, but not GluR6 receptors, decay with a time course similar to KAR-EPSCs. Model simulations suggest that, after brief agonist exposures, GluR6/KA2 currents undergo slow deactivation caused by the stabilization of partially bound open states. We propose, therefore, that the GluR6/KA2 gating features could contribute to the slow KAR-EPSC decay kinetics.