Phosphorylation of the carboxyl-terminal domain of the zeta 1 subunit is not responsible for potentiation by TPA of the NMDA receptor channel

Abstract

The carboxyl-terminal domain of the zeta 1 subunit of the mouse NMDA receptor channel produced as a fusion protein with GST was phosphorylated in vitro by PKC. A mutant of the zeta 1 subunit without serine or threonine residues in the carboxyl-terminal domain (zeta 1-2-NST) was constructed and was expressed alone or together with the epsilon 2 subunit in Xenopus oocytes. Current responses of the zeta 1-2-NST homomeric and epsilon 2/zeta 1-2-NST heteromeric NMDA receptor channels were enhanced by treatment with TPA, a PKC activator, and the extents of potentiation were comparable with the corresponding wild-type channels. These results suggest that the phosphorylation of the carboxyl-terminal domain of the zeta 1 subunit is not responsible for potentiation of NMDA receptor channels by the TPA treatment.