Forschungsschwerpunkte

The laboratory of Receptor Biochemistry demonstrated that non-NMDA receptor ion channel activity is not simply dependent on receptor subunit expression but is critically modulated by a class of recently discovered accessory proteins, so-called TARPs (transmembrane AMPA receptor regulatory proteins). TARPs show interesting differential expression patterns in the brain where one particular subunit is hippocampus-specific. We demonstrated that this modulation is receptor subunit-specific, editing- and splice variant-dependent, as well as critically determined by the specific TARP paralog associated with the receptor. In addition, we have discovered a new family of interacting proteins that modulate functional properties of AMPA receptors in a manner comparable to but not identical with TARPs.
Similar modulatory mechanisms are likely to exist for NMDA and kainate receptors and are currently under investigation. We furthermore screen for accessory proteins of the "orphan receptors" within the delta subfamily of glutamate receptors.