The subunit composition of postsynaptic neurotransmitter receptors is a key determinant of synaptic physiology. Two glutamate receptor subunits, Drosophila glutamate receptor IIA (DGluRIIA) and DGluRIIB, are expressed at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction and are redundant for viability, yet differ in their physiological properties. We now identify a third glutamate receptor subunit at the Drosophila neuromuscular junction, DGluRIII, which is essential for viability. DGluRIII is required for the synaptic localization of DGluRIIA and DGluRIIB and for synaptic transmission. Either DGluRIIA or DGluRIIB, but not both, is required for the synaptic localization of DGluRIII. DGluRIIA and DGluRIIB compete with each other for access to DGluRIII and subsequent localization to the synapse. These results are consistent with a model of a multimeric receptor in which DGluRIII is an essential component. At single postsynaptic cells that receive innervation from multiple motoneurons, DGluRIII is abundant at all synapses. However, DGluRIIA and DGluRIIB are differentially localized at the postsynaptic density opposite distinct motoneurons. Hence, innervating motoneurons may regulate the subunit composition of their receptor fields within a shared postsynaptic cell. The capacity of presynaptic inputs to shape the subunit composition of postsynaptic receptors could be an important mechanism for synapse-specific regulation of synaptic function and plasticity.

Light is the dominant environmental cue that provides temporal information to circadian pacemakers. In Drosophila melanogaster some period gene mutants have altered free‐running circadian periods but entrain to 24 h light‐dark cycles. To address the mechanism of light entrainment in Drosophila, we examined the effects of constant light on the period gene (per) and timeless gene (tim) products in wild‐type and perS flies. The results indicate that light affects three features of the PER‐TIM program: PER and TIM phosphorylation, PER and TIM accumulation, and per and tim RNA cycling. A post‐transcriptional effect on the PER‐TIM complex is the likely primary clock target, which then delays the subsequent decrease in per and tim RNA levels. This is consistent with a negative feedback loop, in which the PER‐TIM complex contributes to the decrease in per and tim RNA levels, presumably at the transcriptional level. There are enhanced constant light effects on the perS mutant, which further support negative feedback as well as support its importance to entrainment of these flies to a 24 h cycle, far from their intrinsic period of 19 h. The perS mutant leads to a truncated protein accumulation phase and a subsequent premature perS RNA increase. A standard 24 h light‐dark cycle delays the negative feedback circuit and extends the RNA and protein profiles, compensating for the accelerated RNA increase and restoring the rhythms to wild‐type‐like periodicity.

When confronted with an array of active zones, glutamate receptors preferentially cluster opposite the largest and most physiologically active sites. These results suggest an activity-dependent matching of pre- and postsynaptic function at the level of a single active zone.

Background Cardiac memory refers to the observation that altered cardiac electrical activation results in repolarization changes that persist after the restoration of a normal activation pattern. Animal studies, however, have yielded disparate conclusions both regarding the spatial pattern of repolarization changes in cardiac memory and the underlying mechanisms. This study was undertaken to produce three dimensional images of the repolarization changes underlying long-term cardiac memory in humans. Methods and Results Nine adult subjects with structurally normal hearts and dual-chamber pacemakers were enrolled in the study. Non-invasive electrocardiographic imaging (ECGI) was used before and after one month of ventricular pacing to reconstruct epicardial activation and repolarization patterns. Eight subjects exhibited cardiac memory in response to ventricular pacing. In all subjects, ventricular pacing resulted in a prolongation of the activation recovery interval (a surrogate for action potential duration) in the region close to the site of pacemaker-induced activation from 228.4±7.6 ms during sinus rhythm to 328.3±6.2 ms during cardiac memory. As a consequence, increases are observed in both apical-basal and right-left ventricular gradients of repolarization resulting in a significant increase in the dispersion of repolarization. Conclusions These results demonstrate that electrical remodeling in response to ventricular pacing in human subjects results in action potential prolongation near the site of abnormal activation and a marked dispersion of repolarization. This dispersion of repolarization is potentially arrhythmogenic and, intriguingly, was less evident during continuous RV pacing, suggesting the novel possibility that continuous RV pacing at least partially suppresses pacemaker-induced cardiac memory.