Spatial and temporal dynamics of the AMPA-Receptor Proteome

Native AMPA receptors (AMPARs) in the mammalian
brain are macromolecular complexes whose functional
characteristics vary across the different brain
regions and change during postnatal development
or in response to neuronal activity. The structural
and functional properties of the AMPARs are determined
by their proteome, the ensemble of their protein
building blocks. Here we use high-resolution
quantitative mass spectrometry to analyze the entire
pool of AMPARs affinity-isolated from distinct brain
regions, selected sets of neurons, and whole brains
at distinct stages of postnatal development. These
analyses show that the AMPAR proteome is dynamic
in both space and time: AMPARs exhibit profound
region specificity in their architecture and the constituents
building their core and periphery. Likewise,
AMPARs exchange many of their building blocks
during postnatal development. These results provide
a unique resource and detailed contextual data sets
for the analysis of native AMPAR complexes and
their role in excitatory neurotransmission.