Experience-driven synaptic plasticity is believed to underlie adaptive behavior by rearranging the way neuronal circuits process information. We have previously discovered that O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT), an enzyme that modifies protein function by attaching β-N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) to serine and threonine residues of intracellular proteins (O-GlcNAc), regulates food intake by modulating excitatory synaptic function in neurons in the hypothalamus. However, how OGT regulates excitatory synapse function is largely unknown. Here we demonstrate that OGT is enriched in the postsynaptic density of excitatory synapses. In the postsynaptic density, O-GlcNAcylation on multiple proteins increased upon neuronal stimulation. Knockout of the OGT gene decreased the synaptic expression of the AMPA receptor GluA2 and GluA3 subunits, but not the GluA1 subunit. The number of opposed excitatory presynaptic terminals was sharply reduced upon postsynaptic knockout of OGT. There were also fewer and less mature dendritic spines on OGT knockout neurons. These data identify OGT as a molecular mechanism that regulates synapse maturity.O-GlcNAc | OGT | excitatory synapses | AMPA receptors N euronal synapses, the cell-cell junctions over which neurons communicate, are formed and eliminated throughout life, and their turnover has for decades been associated with the way neuronal circuits adapt to environmental challenges to optimize behavior (1, 2). In both humans and animals, early development is characterized by massive generation of new synapses. About half of all synapses are then lost during adolescence (2, 3). Most mature excitatory synapses occur on dendritic protrusions called spines and essentially all spines contain an excitatory synapse (4-6). In vivo imaging of individual spines for days to months has shown that adult spines are largely stable but a small subpopulation remains plastic (3, 7) and spine turnover is increased by novel experience (5,(8)(9)(10). Whereas most new spines are thin and withdraw rapidly, some enlarge and form stable synaptic contacts (2,3,7,(11)(12)(13)(14). In fact, the stabilization of a subset of new spines correlates with behavioral performance in several different tasks in multiple animal species (13,(15)(16)(17). Rather than synapse formation or density, the selection of which spines are retained once formed has been suggested to match circuit architecture with behavior (18). Without affecting spine formation, deleting β-adducin, which regulates actin, perturbed the process by which nascent spines establish functional synapses and impaired long-term memory (19). Fragile X syndrome, a common form of mental retardation, exhibits a higher than normal density of spines but more of them exhibit an immature morphology and their turnover is not affected by sensory experience (9,20). Conversely, the protein Telencephalin arrests the maturation of spines and its removal enhances several forms of learning (13,21,22).Although many molecules have been identified that affect synapse number, it is unclear h...