Visualization of Structural Changes Accompanying Activation of N-Methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) Receptors Using Fast-scan Atomic Force Microscopy Imaging

NMDA receptors are widely expressed in the central nervous system and play a major role in excitatory synaptic transmission and plasticity. Here, we used atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging to visualize activation-induced structural changes in the GluN1/GluN2A NMDA receptor reconstituted into a lipid bilayer. In the absence of agonist, AFM imaging revealed two populations of particles with heights above the bilayer surface of 8.6 and 3.4 nm. The taller, but not the shorter, particles could be specifically decorated by an anti-GluN1 antibody, which recognizes the S2 segment of the agonist-binding domain, indicating that the two populations represent the extracellular and intracellular regions of the receptor, respectively. In the presence of glycine and glutamate, there was a reduction in the height of the extracellular region to 7.3 nm. In contrast, the height of the intracellular domain was unaffected. Fast-scan AFM imaging combined with UV photolysis of caged glutamate permitted the detection of a rapid reduction in the height of individual NMDA receptors. The reduction in height did not occur in the absence of the co-agonist glycine or in the presence of the selective NMDA receptor antagonist d(−)-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid, indicating that the observed structural change was caused by receptor activation. These results represent the first demonstration of an activation-induced effect on the structure of the NMDA receptor at the single-molecule level. A change in receptor size following activation could have important functional implications, in particular by affecting interactions between the NMDA receptor and its extracellular synaptic partners.