Received for publication February 29, 2008.
Revised April 28, 2008.
Accepted for publication April 29, 2008.

PSD-95 and Calcineurin Control the Sensitivity of NMDA Receptors to Calpain Cleavage in Cortical Neurons

Abstract

The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) is a Ca²⁺-permeable glutamate receptor mediating many neuronal functions under normal and pathological conditions. Ca²⁺-influx via NMDARs activates diverse intracellular targets, including Ca²⁺-dependent protease calpain. Biochemical studies suggest that NR2A and NR2B subunits of NMDARs are substrates of calpain. Our physiological data showed that calpain, activated by prolonged NMDA treatment (100 µM, 5 min) of cultured cortical neurons, irreversibly decreased the whole-cell currents mediated by extrasynaptic NMDARs. Animals exposed to transient forebrain ischemia, a condition that activates calpain, exhibited the reduced NMDAR current density and the lower full-length NR2A/B level in a calpain-dependent manner. Disruption of the association between NMDARs and the scaffolding protein PSD-95 facilitated the calpain regulation of synaptic NMDAR responses and NR2 cleavage in cortical slices, while inhibition of calcineurin activity blocked the calpain effect on NMDAR currents and NR2 cleavage. Calpain-cleaved NR2B subunits were removed from the cell surface. Moreover, cell viability assays showed that calpain, by targeting NMDARs, provided a negative feedback to dampen neuronal excitability in excitotoxic conditions. These data suggest that calpain activation suppresses NMDAR function via proteolytic cleavage of NR2 subunits in vitro and in vivo, and the susceptibility of NMDARs to calpain cleavage is controlled by PSD-95 and calcineurin.

Key words: Glutamate, Ion channel regulation