Artificial intelligence insight on structural basis and small molecule binding niches of NMDA receptor.

ABSTRACT: NMDA receptors are critical to neuronal activity and play essential roles in synaptic transmission, learning, and memory. Despite significant advances in X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), the structural diversity of NMDA receptors across species and the variations among receptor subtypes within the same species remain insufficiently explored. Additionally, several key small molecule binding sites, such as those for agonists, antagonists, and allosteric modulators, have not been fully characterized. In this study, we utilized state-of-the-art artificial intelligence algorithms to model NMDA receptors across multiple species and found that they all adopted a bouquet-like dimer-of-dimer structure. By comparing these models with cryo-EM resolved structures, we asses

SUBMITTER: Liu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12302824 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature