The selective subcellular localization of mRNAs to dendrites and the recent demonstration of local protein synthesis have highlighted the potential role of postsynaptic sites in modulation of cell-cell communication. We show that epitope-tagged subunit 2 of the ionotopic glutamate receptor, GluR2, mRNA transfected into isolated hippocampal neuronal dendrites is translated in response to pharmacologic stimulation. Further, confocal imaging of N-terminally labeled GluR2 reveals that the newly synthesized GluR2 protein can integrate into the dendritic membrane with the N terminus externally localized. These data demonstrate that integral membrane proteins can be synthesized in dendrites and can locally integrate into the cell membrane.