Highlights d NMDARs are organized in nanodomains within hippocampal synapses d GluN2A-and GluN2B-NMDARs are differentially organized at the nanoscale level d GluN2A-and GluN2B-NMDARs nanodomains are regulated through different pathways d GluN2A-and GluN2B-NMDARs relative ratio bi-directionally regulates LTP

The subunit composition of synaptic NMDA receptors (NMDAR), such as the relative content of GluN2A- and GluN2B-containing receptors, greatly influences the glutamate synaptic transmission. Receptor co-agonists, glycine and D-serine, have intriguingly emerged as potential regulators of the receptor trafficking in addition to their requirement for its activation. Using a combination of single-molecule imaging, biochemistry and electrophysiology, we show that glycine and D-serine relative availability at rat hippocampal glutamatergic synapses regulate the trafficking and synaptic content of NMDAR subtypes. Acute manipulations of co-agonist levels, both ex vivo and in vitro, unveil that D-serine alter the membrane dynamics and content of GluN2B-NMDAR, but not GluN2A-NMDAR, at synapses through a process requiring PDZ binding scaffold partners. In addition, using FRET-based FLIM approach, we demonstrate that D-serine rapidly induces a conformational change of the GluN1 subunit intracellular C-terminus domain. Together our data fuels the view that the extracellular microenvironment regulates synaptic NMDAR signaling.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.25492.001