Inflammation alters trafficking of extrasynaptic AMPA receptors in tonically firing lamina II neurons of the rat spinal dorsal horn

Peripheral inflammation alters AMPA receptor (AMPAR) subunit trafficking and increases AMPAR Ca2+ permeability at synapses of spinal dorsal horn neurons. However, it is unclear whether AMPAR trafficking at extrasynaptic sites of these neurons also changes under persistent inflammatory pain conditions. Using patch-clamp recording combined with Ca2+ imaging and cobalt staining, we found that, under normal conditions, an extrasynaptic pool of AMPARs in rat substantia gelatinosa (SG) neurons of spinal dorsal horn predominantly consists of GluR2-containing Ca2+-impermeable receptors. Maintenance of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced inflammation was associated with a marked enhancement of AMPA-induced currents and [Ca2+]i transients in SG neurons, while, as we previously showed, the amplitude of synaptically evoked AMPAR-mediated currents was not changed 24 h after CFA. These findings indicate that extrasynaptic AMPARs are upregulated and their Ca2+ permeability increases dramatically. This increase occurred in SG neurons characterized by intrinsic tonic firing properties, but not in those exhibited strong adaptation. This increase was also accompanied by an inward rectification of AMPA-induced currents and enhancement of sensitivity to a highly selective Ca2+-permeable AMPAR blocker, IEM-1460. Electron microcopy and biochemical assays additionally showed an increase in the amount of GluR1 at extrasynaptic membranes in dorsal horn neurons 24 h post-CFA. Taken together, our findings indicate that CFA-induced inflammation increases functional expression and proportion of extrasynaptic GluR1-containing Ca2+-permeable AMPARs in tonically firing excitatory dorsal horn neurons, suggesting that the altered extrasynaptic AMPAR trafficking might participate in the maintenance of persistent inflammatory pain.