Modulation of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor desensitization by extracellular protons

The interstitial milieu of the brain is buffered to an average pH of 7.3, but synaptic activation produces a temporal sequence of events that can affect pH in the synaptic cleft. Furthermore, pathophysiological processes such as ischemia and seizures produce global and prolonged acidification of interstitial pH. Changes in pH, in turn, can affect neuronal excitability by modulating receptors and channels. Patch-clamp recordings were made from cultured rat hippocampal neurons to determine whether physiologically relevant changes in interstitial pH (6.5-7.8) significantly affect AMPA receptor function. Acidic pH, such as that typically associated with ischemia (pH 6.5), significantly inhibited AMPA receptor-mediated responses in neurons. The effect of pH was agonist-dependent, with 2-fold greater inhibition of responses evoked by the strongly desensitizing agonists glutamate and quisqualate than the weakly desensitizing agonist kainate. Additional experiments tested the hypothesis that protons modulate AMPA receptor desensitization. In the presence of drugs that block AMPA receptor desensitization, pH 6.5 had no effect on glutamate-evoked responses. In neuronal macropatches, protons increased equilibrium desensitization without affecting macroscopic desensitization or deactivation kinetics. The mechanisms and molecular determinants of pH-mediated effects were further investigated using human embryonic kidney 293 cells expressing recombinant AMPA receptors. Inhibition of kainate-evoked responses varied with subunit and isoform composition, ranging from 10% to >40%. Flop isoforms, which exhibit faster and more extensive desensitization, were most strongly inhibited. These findings suggest that interstitial acidification can modulate AMPA receptor-mediated synaptic transmission and that differences in receptor sensitivity to proton modulation may underlie the selective vulnerability of certain neuronal populations to ischemia.