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J Cell Biol 2020 10;219(10)

Basic Sciences Department, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Spain.

Carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1C (CPT1C) is a sensor of malonyl-CoA and is located in the ER of neurons. AMPA receptors (AMPARs) mediate fast excitatory neurotransmission in the brain and play a key role in synaptic plasticity. In the present study, we demonstrate across different metabolic stress conditions that modulate malonyl-CoA levels in cortical neurons that CPT1C regulates the trafficking of the major AMPAR subunit, GluA1, through the phosphatidyl-inositol-4-phosphate (PI(4)P) phosphatase SAC1. Read More

Neuron 2019 11 8;104(4):680-692.e9. Epub 2019 Oct 8.

Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 7, 79104 Freiburg, Germany; Center for Biological Signaling Studies (BIOSS) and Center for Integrative Signalling Studies (CIBSS), Schänzlestr. 18, 79104 Freiburg, Germany. Electronic address:

Excitatory neurotransmission and its activity-dependent plasticity are largely determined by AMPA-receptors (AMPARs), ion channel complexes whose cell physiology is encoded by their interactome. Here, we delineate the assembly of AMPARs in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of native neurons as multi-state production line controlled by distinct interactome constituents: ABHD6 together with porcupine stabilizes pore-forming GluA monomers, and the intellectual-disability-related FRRS1l-CPT1c complexes promote GluA oligomerization and co-assembly of GluA tetramers with cornichon and transmembrane AMPA-regulatory proteins (TARP) to render receptor channels ready for ER exit. Disruption of the assembly line by FRRS1l deletion largely reduces AMPARs in the plasma membrane, impairs synapse formation, and abolishes activity-dependent synaptic plasticity, while FRRS1l overexpression has the opposite effect. Read More

Front Mol Neurosci 2018 8;11:275. Epub 2018 Aug 8.

Laboratori de Neurofisiologia, Departament de Biomedicina, Facultat de Medicina i Ciències de la Salut, Institut de Neurociències, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

In neurons, AMPA receptor (AMPAR) function depends essentially on their constituent components:the ion channel forming subunits and ion channel associated proteins. On the other hand, AMPAR trafficking is tightly regulated by a vast number of intracellular neuronal proteins that bind to AMPAR subunits. It has been recently shown that the interaction between the GluA1 subunit of AMPARs and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1C (CPT1C), a novel protein partner of AMPARs, is important in modulating surface expression of these ionotropic glutamate receptors. Read More

Nat Commun 2017 07 4;8:15910. Epub 2017 Jul 4.

Institute of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 7, Freiburg 79104, Germany.

AMPA-type glutamate receptors (AMPARs), key elements in excitatory neurotransmission in the brain, are macromolecular complexes whose properties and cellular functions are determined by the co-assembled constituents of their proteome. Here we identify AMPAR complexes that transiently form in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and lack the core-subunits typical for AMPARs in the plasma membrane. Central components of these ER AMPARs are the proteome constituents FRRS1l (C9orf4) and CPT1c that specifically and cooperatively bind to the pore-forming GluA1-4 proteins of AMPARs. Read More

J Biol Chem 2015 Oct 3;290(42):25548-60. Epub 2015 Sep 3.

From the Basic Sciences Department, Facultat de Medicina i Ciències de la Salut, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Sant Cugat del Vallès 08195, Spain, the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y la Nutrición (CIBEROBN), 15706 Santiago de Compostela, Spain

The regulation of AMPA-type receptor (AMPAR) abundance in the postsynaptic membrane is an important mechanism involved in learning and memory formation. Recent data suggest that one of the constituents of the AMPAR complex is carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1C (CPT1C), a brain-specific isoform located in the endoplasmic reticulum of neurons. Previous results had demonstrated that CPT1C deficiency disrupted spine maturation in hippocampal neurons and impaired spatial learning, but the role of CPT1C in AMPAR physiology had remained mostly unknown. Read More

Front Cell Neurosci 2014 2;8:469. Epub 2015 Feb 2.

Laboratori de Neurobiologia, Area de Neurobiologia Cellular i Molecular, Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge-IDIBELL L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain ; Department of Pathology and Experimental Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Barcelona L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain.

AMPARs mediate the vast majority of fast excitatory synaptic transmission in the brain and their biophysical and trafficking properties depend on their subunit composition and on several posttranscriptional and posttranslational modifications. Additionally, in the brain AMPARs associate with auxiliary subunits, which modify the properties of the receptors. Despite the abundance of AMPAR partners, recent proteomic studies have revealed even more interacting proteins that could potentially be involved in AMPAR regulation. Read More