Role of the chemical interactions of the agonist in controlling alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor activation.

ABSTRACT: Alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors are the main excitatory neurotransmitter receptors in the mammalian central nervous system. Structures of the isolated ligand binding domain of this receptor have provided significant insight into the large-scale conformational changes, which when propagated to the channel segments leads to receptor activation. However, to establish the role of specific molecular interactions in controlling fine details such as the magnitude of the functional response, we have used a multiscale approach, where changes at specific moieties of the agonists have been studied by vibrational spectroscopy, while large-scale conformational changes have been studied using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) investigations. By explo

SUBMITTER: Mankiewicz KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2215311 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature