Mammalian ionotropic glutamate receptors

Abstract

Exciting new milestones in glutamate receptor (GluR) channel research include the following: the cloning of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors; delineation of molecular determinants for ion flow through glutamate-gated channels; the discovery that Ca2+ permeability of non-NMDA receptor channels is determined by RNA editing; the construction of antibodies and their use in immunocytochemical localizations of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl isoxazole-4-propionic acid (AMPA) receptor subunits in the rat brain; and the return to prominence of the high-affinity kainate site with the publication of cDNA sequences for subunits (GluR-5, -6, -7; KA-1, -2) constituting subtypes of this site. Major unresolved issues comprise the transmembrane topology and subunit stoichiometries of native receptor channels.