Abstract 1083 Temperature-resolved Cryo-EM reveals glutamate gating of AMPA receptors

Glutamate is one of the major neurotransmitters in the brain. Glutamate is secreted by pre-synaptic neurons and is received by ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) on the post-synaptic neuronal membrane. iGluRs are glutamate gated tetrameric ion channels that are primarily responsible for most of the excitatory neurotransmission. Upon binding to glutamate, the ion channels of the iGluRs open to mediate cation influx into the post-synaptic neurons leading to signal transmission. In the past decade, the structural basis for the glutamate gating has been extensively explored, however, all the activated open state iGluR structures have been determined in the presence of positive allosteric modulators (PAMs).