Glutamate receptors are the predominant excitatory neurotransmitter receptors in the mammalian brain and are activated in a variety of normal neurophysiologic processes. This gene product belongs to a family of glutamate receptors that are sensitive to alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate(AMPA), and function as ligand-activated cation channels. These channels are assembled from 4 related subunits, Gria1-4. The subunit encoded by this gene (Gria2) is subject to RNA editing(CAG->CGG, Q->R) within the second transmembrane domain, which is thought to render the channel impermeable to Ca(2+). Alternative splicing, resulting in transcript variants encoding different isoforms, (including the flip and flop isoforms that vary in their signal transduction properties), has been noted for this gene.
