Changes in the properties and postsynaptic abundance of AMPA-type glutamate receptors (AMPARs) are
major mechanisms underlying various forms of synaptic plasticity, including long-term potentiation (LTP),
long-term depression (LTD), and homeostatic scaling. Here Prof. Diering (University of North Carolina) and Prof. Huganir (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) review the reliance of synaptic plasticity on AMPAR variants and propose ‘‘the AMPAR code’’ as a conceptual framework.
The AMPAR code suggests that AMPAR variants will be predictive of the types
and extent of synaptic plasticity that can occur and that a hierarchy exists such that certain AMPARs will
be disproportionally recruited to synapses during LTP/homeostatic scaling up, or removed during LTD/
homeostatic scaling down.
(Highly recommended)