Nature Neuroscience
2, 31 - 36 (1999)
doi:10.1038/4532
Selective acquisition of AMPA receptors over postnatal development suggests
a molecular basis for silent synapsesR. S. Petralia1, J. A. Esteban2, Y.−X. Wang1, J. G. Partridge3, H.−M. Zhao1, R. J. Wenthold1
& R. Malinow21
Lab. of Neurochemistry, NIDCD, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA
2
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724, USA
3
Dept. Pharmacol., Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, Tennessee 37232, USA The first two authors contributed equally to this project.
Correspondence should be addressed to R. Malinow malinow@cshl.org
Early in postnatal development, glutamatergic synapses transmit primarily
through NMDA receptors. As development progresses, synapses acquire AMPA receptor
function. The molecular basis of these physiological observations is not known.
Here we examined single excitatory synapses with immunogold electron−microscopic
analysis of AMPA and NMDA receptors along with electrophysiological measurements.
Early in postnatal development, a significant fraction of excitatory synapses
had NMDA receptors and lacked AMPA receptors. As development progressed, synapses
acquired AMPA receptors with little change in NMDA receptor number. Thus,
synapses with NMDA receptors but no AMPA receptors can account for the electrophysiologically
observed 'silent synapse'.
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