SUMMARYAll ionotropic glutamate receptor (iGluR) subunits analyzed so far are heavily N-glycosylated at multiple sites on their aminoterminal extracellular domains. Although the exact functional significance of this glycosylation remains to be determined, it has been suggested that N-glycosylation may be a precondition for the formation of functional ion channels. In particular, it has been argued that N-glycosylation is required for the formation of functional ligand binding sites. We analyzed heterologously expressed recombinant glutamate receptors (GluRs) of all three pharmacological subclasses of glutamate receptors, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), ␣-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid, and kainate receptors. By expressing the GluR subunits in tunicamycin-treated, nonglycosylating Xenopus laevis oocytes, we determined that in neither case is N-glycosylation required for ion channel function, although for NMDA receptors, functional expression in the absence of Nglycosylation is very low. Furthermore, we analyzed and compared the interaction of the desensitization-inhibiting lectin concanavalin A (ConA) with all functional GluR subunits. We show that although ConA has its most pronounced effects on kainate receptors, it potentiates currents at most other receptor subtypes as well, including certain NMDA receptor subunits, although to a much lesser extent. One notable exception is the ␣-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid receptor GluR2, which is not affected by ConA. Furthermore, we show that ConA acts directly via binding to the carbohydrate side chains of the receptor protein.iGluRs are the prevalent excitatory neurotransmitter receptors in the central nervous system of vertebrates (1). They can be classified into three major subfamilies on the basis of pharmacological and electrophysiological profiles: NMDA, AMPA, and KA receptors. Being the main mediators of cellto-cell signaling, GluRs are regulated and functionally modulated by a multitude of post-transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms such as alternative splicing, RNA editing, protein phosphorylation, palmitoylation, and N-glycosylation (for a review, see Ref.2). iGluRs are thought to consist of five subunits and may form heteromeric receptors containing different subunits, in many cases resulting in a receptor complex with different properties than their constituent subunits. For some receptor subunits, function can be demonstrated only on coexpression with another subunit of the same subfamily (for a review, see Ref. 2).The amino acid sequences of iGluR subunits contain 4 -12 potential extracellular sites for N-glycosylation, which conform to the universal consensus sequence N-X-S/T, with X P. These sites are marked in Fig. 1 and occur in the two large domains of iGluRs that according to the recently proposed three-transmembrane domain model, are located in the two putatively extracellular domains, the amino terminus and the loop between transmembrane domains B and C (3, 4). Many but not all of the sites are con...

The ionotropic glutamate receptor GluR6 exhibits strongly and rapidly desensitizing current responses. Treatment of heterologically expressed GluR6 with the lectin concanavalin A (ConA) in Xenopus oocytes as well as in human embryonic kidney-293 cells results in a considerable increase of the steady-state current, presumably by inhibiting receptor desensitization. In the present study, we investigated the molecular basis of this effect using a systematic mutagenesis approach. We found that although N-glycosylation is an absolute prerequisite for the lectin-mediated inhibition of desensitization, no single one of the nine extracellular consensus sites for N-glycosylation of GluR6 is required. Rather, each of the nine N-linked carbohydrate side chains is independently capable of modulatory interaction with the lectin. Moreover, even artificially introduced N-glycosylation sites can substitute for native sites. Thus, the specific site of the lectin binding does not appear to be important for its desensitization-inhibiting action. Furthermore, we show that the extent of the receptor's ConA sensitivity depends on its state of activation, because the desensitized GluR6 exhibits significantly lower lectin sensitivity than the nondesensitized receptor. We conclude that binding of ConA "locks" the receptor in the activatable state, thereby inhibiting conformational changes required to shift the receptor to the desensitized state.

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