How Ca2+-permeable AMPA receptors, the kinase PKA, and the phosphatase PP2B are intertwined in synaptic LTP and LTD.

Both synaptic long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) are thought to be critical for memory formation. Dell'Acqua and co-workers now demonstrate that transient postsynaptic incorporation of Ca(2+)-permeable (CP) α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (AMPARs) is required for LTD in the exemplary hippocampal CA1 region in 2-week-old mice. Mechanistically, LTD depends on AKAP150-anchored protein kinase A (PKA) to promote the initial functional recruitment of CP-AMPARs during LTD induction and on AKAP150-anchored protein phosphatase 2B (PP2B) to trigger their subsequent removal as part of the lasting depression of synaptic transmission.