Phosphorylation of threonine-19 of PSD-95 by GSK-3β isrequired for PSD-95 mobilization and long-term depression

Christopher D. Nelson, Myung Jong Kim, Honor Hsin, Yelin Chen, Morgan Sheng*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

103 Scopus citations

Abstract

Activity of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) is required for long-term depression (LTD) via molecular mechanisms that are incompletely understood. Here, we report that PSD-95, a major scaffold protein of the postsynaptic density (PSD) that promotes synaptic strength, is phosphorylated on threonine-19 (T19) by GSK-3β. In cultured rat hippocampal neurons, phosphorylation of T19 increases rapidly with chemical LTD and is attenuated by pharmacologic or genetic suppression of GSK-3β. In organotypic rat hippocampal slices, we find that a nonphosphorylatable PSD-95 mutant (T19A) tagged with photoactivatable green fluorescent protein (PAGFP) shows enhanced stability in dendritic spines versus wild-type PSD-95, whereas the phosphomimetic mutant (PSD-95-T19D) is more readily dispersed. Further, overexpression of PSD-95-T19A, but not WT-PSD-95, impairs AMPA receptor internalization and the induction of LTD. These data indicate that phosphorylation on T19 by GSK-3β destabilizes PSD-95 within the PSD and is a critical step for AMPA receptor mobilization and LTD.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)12122-12135
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Neuroscience
Volume33
Issue number29
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience

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