Synaptic plasticity is known as the modulation of the synaptic strength due to the amount of activity displayed by a determined synapse. This phenomenon occurs throughout life and is necessary for the proper structural and functional development of the brain. Hence, it is well accepted that the reinforcement of the more active synapses and the decline of the less functional is necessary to the establishment of intricate and robust neuronal networks. Indeed, the synaptic plasticity is behind the neurochemical basis of learning and memory processes, a phenomenon demonstrated to be altered in neuropathological conditions. Interestingly, it has been proposed that a close interplay between GPCRs and ion channels is behind the molecular bases of synaptic plasticity. Accordingly, we have extended the oligomerization concept to the formation of signaling complexes between GPCRs and ion channels. For instance, we have described the oligomerization of some class C GPCRs (e.g. GABAB and mGlu5 receptors) with several potassium channels (e.g. GIRK and SK2 channels, respectively).
Additional reading:
SK2 Channels Associate With mGlu 1α Receptors and Ca V 2.1 Channels in Purkinje Cells. (2018) Luján, R., Aguado, C., Ciruela, F., Morató, X., Watanabe, M., Adelman, J.P., Shigemoto, R. & Fukazawa, Y. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience 12, 311.
Functional coupling of GABA A/B receptors and the channel TRPV4 mediates rapid progesterone signaling in the oviduct. (2018) Jung, C., Fernández-Dueñas, V., Plata, C., Garcia-Elias, A., Ciruela, F., Fernández-Fernández, J.M. & Valverde, M.A. Science Signalling 11 (543), eaam6558.
Differential association of GABAB receptors with their effector ion channels in Purkinje cells. (2018) Luján, R., Aguado, C., Ciruela, F., Cózar, J., Kleindienst, D., de la Ossa, L., Bettler, B., Wickman, K., Watanabe, M., Shigemoto, R. & Fukazawa, Y. Brain Structure and Function 223(3),1565-1587.