In the fast lane: Receptor trafficking during status epilepticus

Status epilepticus (SE) remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality and often is refractory to standard first‐line treatments. A rapid loss of synaptic inhibition and development of pharmacoresistance to benzodiazepines (BZDs) occurs early during SE, while NMDA and AMPA receptor antagonists remain effective treatments after BZDs have failed. Multimodal and subunit‐selective receptor trafficking within minutes to an hour of SE involves GABA‐A, NMDA, and AMPA receptors and contributes to shifts in the number and subunit composition of surface receptors with differential impacts on the physiology, pharmacology, and strength of GABAergic and glutamatergic currents at synaptic and extrasynaptic sites. During the first hour of SE, synaptic GABA‐A receptors containing γ2 subunits move to the cell interior while extrasynaptic GABA‐A receptors with δ subunits are preserved. Conversely, NMDA receptors containing N2B subunits are increased at synaptic and extrasynaptic sites, and homomeric GluA1 (“GluA2‐lacking”) calcium permeant AMPA receptor surface expression also is increased. Molecular mechanisms, largely driven by NMDA receptor or calcium permeant AMPA receptor activation early during circuit hyperactivity, regulate subunit‐specific interactions with proteins involved with synaptic scaffolding, adaptin‐AP2/clathrin‐dependent endocytosis, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) retention, and endosomal recycling. Reviewed here is how SE‐induced shifts in receptor subunit composition and surface representation increase the excitatory to inhibitory imbalance that sustains seizures and fuels excitotoxicity contributing to chronic sequela such as “spontaneous recurrent seizures” (SRS). A role for early multimodal therapy is suggested both for treatment of SE and for prevention of long‐term comorbidities.