Mutagenesis reveals a role for ABP/GRIP binding to GluR2 in synaptic surface accumulation of the AMPA receptor

Abstract

We studied the role of PDZ proteins GRIP, ABP, and PICK1 in GluR2 AMPA receptor trafficking. An epitope-tagged MycGluR2 subunit, when expressed in hippocampal cultured neurons, was specifically targeted to the synaptic surface. With the mutant MycGluR2delta1-10, which lacks the PDZ binding site, the overall dendritic intracellular transport and the synaptic surface targeting were not affected. However, over time, Myc-GluR2delta1-10 accumulated at synapses significantly less than MycGluR2. Notably, a single residue substitution, S880A, which blocks binding to ABP/GRIP but not to PICK1, reduced synaptic accumulation to the same extent as the PDZ site truncation. We conclude that the association of GluR2 with ABP and/or GRIP but not PICK1 is essential for maintaining the synaptic surface accumulation of the receptor, possibly by limiting its endocytotic rate.