Developmental switch in the kinase dependency of long-term potentiation depends on expression of GluA4 subunit-containing AMPA receptors

The AMPA-receptor subunit GluA4 is expressed transiently in CA1 pyramidal neurons at the time synaptic connectivity is forming, but its physiological significance is unknown. Here we show that GluA4 expression is sufficient to alter the signaling requirements of long-term potentiation (LTP) and can fully explain the switch in the LTP kinase dependency from PKA to Ca2(+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II during synapse maturation. At immature synapses, activation of PKA leads to a robust potentiation of AMPA-receptor function via the mobilization of GluA4. Analysis of GluA4-deficient mice indicates that this mechanism is critical for neonatal PKA-dependent LTP. Furthermore, lentiviral expression of GluA4 in CA1 neurons conferred a PKA-dependent synaptic potentiation and LTP regardless of the developmental stage. Thus, GluA4 defines the signaling requirements for LTP and silent synapse activation during a critical period of synapse development.

Aggregation Limits Surface Expression of Homomeric GluA3 Receptors

AMPA receptors are glutamate-gated cation channels assembled from GluA1-4 subunits and have properties that are strongly dependent on the subunit composition. The subunits have different propensities to form homomeric or various heteromeric receptors expressed on cell surface, but the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. Here, we examined the biochemical basis for the poor ability of GluA3 subunits to form homomeric receptors, linked previously to two amino acid residues, Y454 and R461, in its ligand-binding domain (LBD). Surface expression of GluA3 was improved by co-assembly with GluA2 but not with stargazin, a trafficking chaperone and modulator of AMPA receptors. The secretion efficiency of GluA2 and GluA3 LBDs paralleled the transport difference between the respective full-length receptors and was similarly dependent on Y454/R461, but not on LBD stability. In comparison to GluA2, GluA3 homomeric receptors showed a strong and Y454/R461-dependent tendency to aggregate both in the macroscopic scale measured as lower solubility in nonionic detergent and in the microscopic scale evident as the preponderance of hydrodynamically large structures in density gradient centrifugation and native gel electrophoresis. We conclude that the impaired surface expression of homomeric GluA3 receptors is caused by nonproductive assembly and aggregation to which LBD residues Y454 and R461 strongly contribute. This aggregation inhibits the entry of newly synthesized GluA3 receptors to the secretory pathway.