Molecular tuning of fast gating in pentameric ligand-gated ion channels.

ABSTRACT: Neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine (ACh) and glycine mediate fast synaptic neurotransmission by activating pentameric ligand-gated ion channels (LGICs). These receptors are allosteric transmembrane proteins that rapidly convert chemical messages into electrical signals. Neurotransmitters activate LGICs by interacting with an extracellular agonist-binding domain (ECD), triggering a tertiary/quaternary conformational change in the protein that results in the fast opening of an ion pore domain (IPD). However, the molecular mechanism that determines the fast opening of LGICs remains elusive. Here, we show by combining whole-cell and single-channel recordings of recombinant chimeras between the ECD of alpha7 nicotinic receptor (nAChR) and the IPD of the glycine receptor (GlyR) that only tw

SUBMITTER: Grutter T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1312410 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature