Abstract

AMPARs control fast synaptic communication between neurons and their function relies on auxiliary subunits, which importantly modulate channel properties. Although it has been suggested that AMPARs can bind to TARPs with variable stoichiometry, little is known about the effect that this stoichiometry exerts on certain AMPAR properties. Here we have found that AMPARs show a clear stoichiometry-dependent modulation by the prototypical TARP γ2 although the receptor still needs to be fully saturated with γ2 to show some typical TARP-induced characteristics (i.e. an increase in channel conductance). We also uncovered important differences in the stoichiometric modulation between calcium-permeable and calcium-impermeable AMPARs. Moreover, in heteromeric AMPARs, γ2 positioning in the complex is important to exert certain TARP-dependent features. Finally, by comparing data from recombinant receptors with endogenous AMPAR currents from mouse cerebellar granule cells, we have determined a likely presence of two γ2 molecules at somatic receptors in this cell type.

Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files. Source data files have been provided for all Figures.

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Federico Miguez-Cabello

    Biomedicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  2. Nuria Sánchez-Fernández

    Biomedicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Natalia Yefimenko

    Biomedicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  4. Xavier Gasull

    Biomedicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. Esther Gratacòs-Batlle

    Biomedicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-8093-3713
  6. David Soto

    Department of Biomedicine, Medical School, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
    For correspondence
    davidsoto@ub.edu
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-7995-3805

Funding

Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (BFU2017-83317-P)

  • David Soto

Instituto de Salud Carlos III (RD16/0008/0014)

  • Xavier Gasull

Generalitat de Catalunya (2017SGR737)

  • Xavier Gasull

Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FIS-PI17/00296)

  • Xavier Gasull

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Ethics

Animal experimentation: The authors state that the animals used in this study were sacrificed following the guidelines of CEEA-UB (Ethical Committee for Animal Research) from University of Barcelona with the license number OB117/16, of which Dr. David Soto is the responsible principal investigator.

Reviewing Editor

  1. Inna Slutsky, Tel Aviv University, Israel

Version history

  1. Received: November 25, 2019
  2. Accepted: May 24, 2020
  3. Accepted Manuscript published: May 26, 2020 (version 1)
  4. Accepted Manuscript updated: May 27, 2020 (version 2)
  5. Version of Record published: June 17, 2020 (version 3)
  6. Version of Record updated: July 27, 2020 (version 4)

Copyright

© 2020, Miguez-Cabello et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Federico Miguez-Cabello
  2. Nuria Sánchez-Fernández
  3. Natalia Yefimenko
  4. Xavier Gasull
  5. Esther Gratacòs-Batlle
  6. David Soto
(2020)
AMPAR/TARP stoichiometry differentially modulates channel properties
eLife 9:e53946.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.53946

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