AMPA (alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid) receptors mediate fast excitatory synaptic transmission in the brain. These ion channels rapidly deactivate and desensitize, which determine the time course of synaptic transmission. Here, we find that the AMPA receptor interacting protein, stargazin, not only mediates AMPA receptor trafficking but also shapes synaptic responses by slowing channel deactivation and desensitization. The cytoplasmic tail of stargazin determines receptor trafficking, whereas the ectodomain controls channel properties. Stargazin alters AMPA receptor kinetics by increasing the rate of channel opening. Disrupting the interaction of stargazin ectodomain with hippocampal AMPA receptors alters the amplitude and shape of synaptic responses, establishing a crucial function for stargazin in controlling the efficacy of synaptic transmission in the brain.

Functional expression of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors in cerebellar granule cells requires stargazin, a member of a large family of four-pass transmembrane proteins. Here, we define a family of transmembrane AMPA receptor regulatory proteins (TARPs), which comprise stargazin, γ-3, γ-4, and γ-8, but not related proteins, that mediate surface expression of AMPA receptors. TARPs exhibit discrete and complementary patterns of expression in both neurons and glia in the developing and mature central nervous system. In brain regions that express multiple isoforms, such as cerebral cortex, TARP–AMPA receptor complexes are strictly segregated, suggesting distinct roles for TARP isoforms. TARPs interact with AMPA receptors at the postsynaptic density, and surface expression of mature AMPA receptors requires a TARP. These studies indicate a general role for TARPs in controlling synaptic AMPA receptors throughout the central nervous system.

SUMMARY Glutamate receptors play major roles in excitatory transmission in the vertebrate brain. Among ionotropic glutamate receptors (AMPA, kainate, NMDA), AMPA receptors mediate fast synaptic transmission and require TARP auxiliary subunits. NMDA receptors and kainate receptors play roles in synaptic transmission, but it remains uncertain whether these ionotropic glutamate receptors also have essential subunits. Using a proteomic screen, we have identified NETO2, a brain-specific protein of unknown function, as an interactor with kainate-type glutamate receptors. NETO2 modulates the channel properties of recombinant and native kainate receptors without affecting trafficking of the receptors and also modulates kainate-receptor-mediated mEPSCs. Furthermore, we found that kainate receptors regulate the surface expression of NETO2 and that NETO2 protein levels and surface expression are decreased in mice lacking the kainate receptor GluR6. The results show that NETO2 is a kainate receptor subunit with significant effects on glutamate signaling mechanisms in brain.

Synaptic plasticity involves protein phosphorylation cascades that alter the density of AMPA-type glutamate receptors at excitatory synapses; however, the crucial phosphorylated substrates remain uncertain. Here, we show that the AMPA receptor-associated protein stargazin is quantitatively phosphorylated and that stargazin phosphorylation promotes synaptic trafficking of AMPA receptors. Synaptic NMDA receptor activity can induce both stargazin phosphorylation, via activation of CaMKII and PKC, and stargazin dephosphorylation, by activation of PP1 downstream of PP2B. At hippocampal synapses, long-term potentiation and long-term depression require stargazin phosphorylation and dephosphorylation, respectively. These results establish stargazin as a critical substrate in the bidirectional control of synaptic strength, which is thought to underlie aspects of learning and memory.

Synaptic plasticity involves activity-dependent trafficking of AMPA-type glutamate receptors. Numerous cytoplasmic scaffolding proteins are postulated to control AMPA receptor trafficking, but the detailed mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that the transmembrane AMPA receptor regulatory protein (TARP) gamma-8, which is preferentially expressed in the mouse hippocampus, is important for AMPA receptor protein levels and extrasynaptic surface expression. By controlling the number of AMPA receptors, gamma-8 is also important in long-term potentiation, but not long-term depression. This study establishes gamma-8 as a critical protein for basal AMPA receptor expression and localization at extrasynaptic sites in the hippocampus and raises the possibility that TARP-dependent control of AMPA receptors during synapse development and plasticity may be widespread.

Glutamate, the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, acts primarily on two types of ionotropic receptors: alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors and N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. Work over the past decade indicates that regulated changes in the number of synaptic AMPA receptors may serve as a mechanism for information storage. Recent studies demonstrate that a family of small transmembrane AMPA receptor regulatory proteins (TARPs) controls both AMPA receptor trafficking and channel gating. TARPs provide the first example of auxiliary subunits of ionotropic receptors. Here we review the pivotal role that TARPs play in the life cycle of AMPA receptors.

A large proportion of biomedical research and the development of therapeutics is focused on a small fraction of the human genome. In a strategic effort to map the knowledge gaps around proteins encoded by the human genome and to promote the exploration of currently understudied, but potentially druggable, proteins, the US National Institutes of Health launched the Illuminating the Druggable Genome (IDG) initiative in 2014. In this article, we discuss how the systematic collection and processing of a wide array of genomic, proteomic, chemical and disease-related resource data by the IDG Knowledge Management Center have enabled the development of evidence-based criteria for tracking the target development level (TDL) of human proteins, which indicates a substantial knowledge deficit for approximately one out of three proteins in the human proteome. We then present spotlights on the TDL categories as well as key drug target classes, including G protein-coupled receptors, protein kinases and ion channels, which illustrate the nature of the unexplored opportunities for biomedical research and therapeutic development.

Summary Transmembrane AMPA receptor regulatory proteins (TARPs) and cornichon proteins (CNIH-2/3) independently modulate AMPA receptor trafficking and gating. However, the potential for interactions of these subunits within an AMPA receptor complex is unknown. Here, we find that TARPs γ-4, γ-7 and γ-8, but not γ-2, γ-3 or γ-5, cause AMPA receptors to “resensitize” upon continued glutamate application. With γ-8, resensitization occurs with all GluA subunit combinations; however, γ-8-containing hippocampal neurons do not display resensitization. In recombinant systems, CNIH-2 abrogates γ-8-mediated resensitization and modifies AMPA receptor pharmacology and gating to match that of hippocampal neurons. In hippocampus, γ-8 and CNIH-2 associate in postsynaptic densities and CNIH-2 protein levels are markedly diminished in γ-8 knockout mice. Manipulating neuronal CNIH-2 levels modulates the electrophysiological properties of extrasynaptic and synaptic γ-8-containing AMPA receptors. Thus, γ-8 and CNIH-2 functionally interact with common hippocampal AMPA receptor complexes to modulate synergistically kinetics and pharmacology.