Arrangement of subunits in functional NMDA receptors.

ABSTRACT: Ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs), including the NMDA receptor subtype, are ligand-gated ion channels critical to fast signaling in the CNS. NMDA receptors are obligate heterotetramers composed of two GluN1 and typically two GluN2 subunits. However, the arrangement of GluN subunits in functional receptors-whether like subunits are adjacent to (N1/N1/N2/N2) or diagonal to (N1/N2/N1/N2) one another-remains unclear. Recently, a crystal structure of a homomeric AMPA receptor revealed that the four identical subunits adopt two distinct and subunit-specific conformations termed A/C and B/D with subunits of like conformations (e.g., A/C) diagonal to one another. In the structure, the two conformers were notable at the level of the linkers (S1-M1, M3-S2, and S2-M4) that join the ligand-bindi

SUBMITTER: Salussolia CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3207322 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature