Blockade of ion channels as an approach to studying AMPA receptor subtypes.

This article reviews current progress in studies of the relationship between the molecular structure of different subtypes of AMPA receptors and their functional properties. Differences in the subunit composition of AMPA receptors involved in glutamatergic synaptic inputs to efferent (main) neurons and interneurons are discussed with reference to neurons isolated from the hippocampus, striatum, and cerebellum. Data on the possibility of selective pharmacological actions on the ion channels of different AMPA receptor subtypes are presented; this allows these receptors to be identified and their functions to be studied in greater depth in normal and pathological conditions.