Identification of the SNARE complex mediating the exocytosis of NMDA receptors.
In the central nervous system, NMDA receptors mediate excitatory neurotransmissions and play important roles in synaptic plasticity. The regulation of NMDA receptor trafficking is critical for neural functions in the brain. Here, we directly visualized individual exocytic events of NMDA receptors in rat hippocampal neurons by total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM). We found that the constitutive exocytosis of NMDA receptors included both de novo exocytic and recycling events, which were regulated by different Rab proteins. We also identified the SNAP25-VAMP1-syntaxin4 complex mediating the constitutive exocytosis of NMDA receptors. Transient knockdown of each component of the SNARE complex interfered with surface delivery of NMDA receptors to both extrasynaptic and synaptic membranes. Our study uncovers the postsynaptic function of the SNAP25-VAMP1-syntaxin4 complex in mediating the constitutive exocytosis of NMDA receptors, suggesting that this SNARE complex is involved in excitatory synaptic transmission.
['Gu|Yi|Y|', 'Huganir|Richard L|RL|']
D000818:Animals D002490:Central Nervous System D005089:Exocytosis D006624:Hippocampus D046912:Multiprotein Complexes D009473:Neuronal Plasticity D009474:Neurons D050765:Qa-SNARE Proteins D051381:Rats D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate D050600:SNARE Proteins D009435:Synaptic Transmission D050825:Synaptosomal-Associated Protein 25 D050987:Vesicle-Associated Membrane Protein 1
SNARE NMDA receptor TIRFM constitutive exocytosis Rab