A family of photoswitchable NMDA receptors

• DOI: 10.7554/elife.12040
• Publication Date: 2016-03-01T16:08:12Z
• Authors: Shai Berlin; Stephanie Szobota; Andreas Reiner; Elizabeth C Carroll; Michael A Kienzler; Alice Guyon; Tong Xiao; Dirk Trauner; Ehud Y Isacoff
• Keywords: Long-term depression

NMDA receptors, which regulate synaptic strength and are implicated in learning memory, consist of several subtypes with distinct subunit compositions functional properties. To enable spatiotemporally defined, rapid reproducible manipulation function specific subtypes, we engineered a set photoswitchable GluN subunits ('LiGluNs'). Photo-agonism GluN2A or GluN2B elicits an excitatory drive to hippocampal neurons that can be shaped time mimic activation. at single dendritic spines evokes spine-specific calcium elevation expansion, the morphological correlate LTP. Photo-antagonism alone, combination photo-antagonism GluN1a, reversibly blocks currents, prevents induction long-term potentiation spine expansion. In addition, vivo disrupts pruning developing retino-tectal projections larval zebrafish. By providing precise rapidly reversible optical control receptor LiGluNs should help unravel contribution receptors transmission, integration plasticity.