Glutamate receptor ion channels are membrane proteins that mediate excitatory synaptic transmission in the central nervous system of vertebrates. Insight into molecular mechanisms underlying glutamate receptor gating is limited by lack of structural information for receptors trapped in different conformational states. Here, we report the use of single-particle cryoelectron tomography to determine the structures, at ∼21 Å resolution, of full-length GluK2 kainate receptors trapped in antagonist-bound resting and agonist-bound desensitized states. The resting state, stabilized by the competitive antagonist LY466195, closely resembles the crystal structure of the AMPA receptor GluA2, with well-resolved proximal and distal subunits exhibiting cross-over between the twofold symmetric amino terminal domain and a twofold symmetric ligand binding domain (LBD) dimer of dimers assembly. In the desensitized state, the LBD undergoes a major rearrangement, resulting in a separation of the four subunits by ∼25 Å. However, the amino terminal domain, transmembrane, and cytoplasmic regions of the receptor have similar conformations in the resting and desensitized states. The LBD rearrangement was not anticipated in prior models based on crystal structures for soluble LBD dimer assemblies, and we speculate that subunit separation allows a better match to the fourfold symmetric ion channel domain. From fits of the amino terminal domain and LBD domains into the density map of the desensitized state we have derived a structural model for differences in quaternary conformation between the resting and desensitized states.cryoelectron microscopy | ion channel gating G lutamate receptor ion channels (iGluRs) are major mediators of excitatory synaptic transmission in the central nervous system. Encoded by 18 genes in humans, each of the three major iGluR subtypes, named AMPA, kainate and NMDA receptors, has unique developmental and spatial expression profiles, with diverse kinetics and ion permeability (1). In their major functional role, these membrane proteins use the binding energy of neurotransmitters to open a cation selective pore; the resulting rapid influx of sodium and calcium ions leads to action potential generation and signaling through neuronal networks. On a longer time scale, regulation of iGluR synaptic targeting plays a key role in learning and storage of memories (2).Understanding the structural basis by which iGluRs are gated by neurotransmitters is of fundamental interest to deciphering their diverse functional roles. Arranged like beads on a string, iGluR subunits contain four distinct domains, for which the extracellular amino terminal (ATD) and ligand binding (LBD) domains can be genetically isolated, expressed as soluble proteins, and crystallized as dimers (3). These domains are linked by short polypeptide linkers to the ion channel and intracellular carboxyl terminus. The 3.6-Å resolution X-ray structure of an engineered AMPA receptor construct (GluA2 cryst Protein Data Bank ID code 3KG2), trapped in the closed s...