Pre-activation and gating pathway of AMPA receptors revealed by full and partial agonists

AMPA receptors (AMPARs) mediate fast excitatory neurotransmission. Gating of AMPARs starts with agonist binding and transition into a non-conducting pre-active state, followed by transition into conducting open or non-conducting desensitized states. While the terminal apo, open and desensitized states have been structurally characterized, the intermediate pre-active state has remained an enigma. Compared to full agonist glutamate, partial agonists reduce the maximal occupancy of the open state and increase the probability of the pre-active state occurrence. Here we use different partial agonists and time-resolved cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to capture a structural ensemble of GluA2–γ2 AMPAR complexes in the closed apo, pre-active, open and desensitized states. Binding of partial agonists to the ligand-binding domain (LBD) results in different extents of LBD clamshell closure, with closures exceeding a threshold of ~17° resulting in the open and desensitized states and smaller closures stabilizing the pre-active state. The pre-active state has a distinct gate conformation intermediate between the other two discrete states, completely open and closed. Combined with single-channel current recordings and molecular dynamics simulations, our structural results reveal the complete gating pathway of AMPARs and shed light on the molecular mechanisms of partial agonism and pre-activation. AMPA receptor (AMPAR) gating proceeds through an intermediate pre-active state that has structurally remained an enigma. Here, Newton et al. use full and partial agonists and time-resolved cryo-electron microscopy to resolve this state and reveal the complete gating pathway of AMPARs.