lonotropic AMPA-type glutamate and metabotropic GABAB receptors: determining cellular physiology by proteomes

lonotropic AMPA-type glutamate receptors and G-protein coupled metabotropic GABA(B) receptors are key elements of neurotransmission whose cellular functions are determined by their protein constituents. Over the past couple of years unbiased proteomic approaches identified comprehensive sets of protein building blocks of these two types of neurotransmitter receptors in the brain (termed receptor proteomes). This provided the opportunity to match receptor proteomes with receptor physiology and to study the structural organization, regulation and function of native receptor complexes in an unprecedented manner. In this review we discuss the principles of receptor architecture and regulation emerging from the functional characterization of the proteomes of AMPA and GABAB receptors. We also highlight progress in unraveling the role of unexpected protein components for receptor physiology.