Zinc effects on NMDA receptor gating kinetics.

ABSTRACT: Zinc accumulates in the synaptic vesicles of certain glutamatergic forebrain neurons and modulates neuronal excitability and synaptic plasticity by multiple poorly understood mechanisms. Zinc directly inhibits NMDA-sensitive glutamate-gated channels by two separate mechanisms: high-affinity binding to N-terminal domains of GluN2A subunits reduces channel open probability, and low-affinity voltage-dependent binding to pore-lining residues blocks the channel. Insight into the high-affinity allosteric effect has been hampered by the receptor's complex gating; multiple, sometimes coupled, modulatory mechanisms; and practical difficulties in avoiding transient block by residual Mg(2+). To sidestep these challenges, we examined how nanomolar zinc concentrations changed the gating kinetics of ind

SUBMITTER: Amico-Ruvio SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3077707 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature