Abstract
N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor channels exhibit a high permeability for calcium ions. In this report, we confirm that calcium ions permeate effectively through the wild-type channels, and find that their presence within the pore blocks the flux of sodium and other ions. Further proof for this ionic block comes from the analysis of the epsilon 1(N614Q) mutation where the high permeability of calcium is unchanged but the block by calcium ions is increased twofold. In both the wild-type and mutant channels, calcium ion block is independent of membrane voltage; therefore, the calcium binding site is outside the voltage gradient through the pore and must be close to the extracellular mouth of the ion conductance pathway. This calcium site is distinct from the magnesium binding site, which lies 80% into the pore's electrostatic field and thus exhibits a marked voltage dependence of binding. The epsilon 1(N614Q) mutation reduces the affinity of magnesium ion for its binding site but increases the affinity of calcium ion for its binding site. Since a single mutation perturbs two distinct binding sites in opposite ways, we postulate that binding of divalent ions at the two sites interact.