Excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitter receptors usually form
protein complex by various combinations with subunits and express their
spatio-temporal function. Among them, AMPA type glutamate receptors
(AMPA-Rs) are supposed to be central molecule for hippocampal memory
formation. We have developed an optical technology for acute
inactivation of synaptic GluA1 homomeric receptors in vivo by
chromophore assisted light inactivation, CALI (Takemoto et al. Nat.
Biotechnol. 2017). This technology enabled us to elucidate the function
of GluA1 homomer in the acquisition of contextual fear memory in
hippocampus. By combination of these CALI methods with two photon
microscopy, we now focus on elucidating the molecular mechanisms of
hippocampal memory acquisition and retention by spatio-temporal manner in vivo.