NMDA receptors interact with flotillin-1 and -2, lipid raft-associated proteins

N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) mediate excitatory synaptic transmission in the brain. Here we demonstrate interactions between the NR2A and NR2B subunits of NMDARs with flotillin-1 (flot-1), a lipid raft-associated protein. When mapped, analogous regions in the far distal C-termini of NR2A and NR2B mediate binding to flot-1, and the prohibitin homology domain of flot-1 contains binding sites for NR2A and NR2B. Although NR2B can also directly bind to flot-2 via a separate region of its distal C-terminus, NMDARs were significantly more colocalized with flot-1 than flot-2 in cultured hippocampal neurons. Overall, this study defines a novel interaction between NMDARs and flotillins.Structured summaryMINT-7013094: NR2A (uniprotkb:Q00959), NR2B (uniprotkb:Q00960) and Flot2 (uniprotkb:Q9Z2S9) colocalize (MI:0403) by fluorescence microscopy (MI:0416)MINT-7013147: Flot1 (uniprotkb:Q9Z1E1) physically interacts (MI:0218) with NR2A (uniprotkb:Q00959) by anti bait coimmunoprecipitation (MI:0006)MINT-7013189: Flot1 (uniprotkb:Q9Z1E1) physically interacts (MI:0218) with Flot2 (uniprotkb:Q9Z2S9) by anti bait coimmunoprecipitation (MI:0006)MINT-7013033: NR2A (uniprotkb:Q00959) physically interacts (MI:0218) with Flot1 (uniprotkb:Q9Z1E1) by two hybrid (MI:0018)MINT-7013178: NR1 (uniprotkb:P35439) physically interacts (MI:0218) with Flot2 (uniprotkb:Q9Z2S9) by anti bait coimmunoprecipitation (MI:0006)MINT-7013197, MINT-7013210: NR2B (uniprotkb:Q00960) and NR2A (uniprotkb:Q00959) physically interact (MI:0218) with Flot2 (uniprotkb:Q9Z2S9) by anti bait coimmunoprecipitation (MI:0006)MINT-7013002: NR2B (uniprotkb:Q00960) physically interacts (MI:0218) with Flot1 (uniprotkb:O08917) by two hybrid (MI:0018)MINT-7013117: Flot1 (uniprotkb:Q9Z1E1), NR2B (uniprotkb:Q00960) and NR2A (uniprotkb:Q00959) colocalize (MI:0403) by fluorescence microscopy (MI:0416)MINT-7013171: NR1 (uniprotkb:P35439) physically interacts (MI:0218) with Flot1 (uniprotkb:Q9Z1E1) by anti bait coimmunoprecipitation (MI:0006)MINT-7013017: NR2A (uniprotkb:Q00959) physically interacts (MI:0218) with Flot1 (uniprotkb:O08917) by two hybrid (MI:0018)MINT-7013054: NR2B (uniprotkb:Q00960) physically interacts (MI:0218) with Flot1 (uniprotkb:Q9Z1E1) by two hybrid (MI:0018)MINT-7013129: Flot1 (uniprotkb:Q9Z1E1) physically interacts (MI:0218) with NR2B (uniprotkb:Q00960) by anti bait coimmunoprecipitation (MI:0006)MINT-7013155: NR1 (uniprotkb:P35439) physically interacts (MI:0218) with NR2B (uniprotkb:Q00960) by anti bait coimmunoprecipitation (MI:0006)MINT-7013074: NR2B (uniprotkb:Q00960) physically interacts (MI:0218) with Flot2 (uniprotkb:Q9Z2S9) by two hybrid (MI:0018)MINT-7013162: NR1 (uniprotkb:P35439) physically interacts (MI:0218) with NR2A (uniprotkb:Q00959) by anti bait coimmunoprecipitation (MI:0006)