GLUR2 Antibody

Glutamate receptor 2, also known as GLUR2, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the GRIA2 gene. This gene product belongs to a family of glutamate receptors that are sensitive to alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate (AMPA), and function as ligand-activated cation channels. The crystal structures of the GLUR2 ligand-binding core in the apo state and in the presence of the antagonist DNQX, the partial agonist kainate, and the full agonists AMPA and glutamate. GLUR2 plays a major role in depression at synapses in which glutamate remains in the synaptic cleft for prolonged periods of time during normal operation of the synapse. Overexpression increases dendritic spine size and density in hippocampal neurons, and more remarkably, induces spine formation in GABA-releasing interneurons that normally lack spines.