Structural basis of kainate subtype glutamate receptor desensitization.

ABSTRACT: Glutamate receptors are ligand-gated tetrameric ion channels that mediate synaptic transmission in the central nervous system. They are instrumental in vertebrate cognition and their dysfunction underlies diverse diseases. In both the resting and desensitized states of AMPA and kainate receptor subtypes, the ion channels are closed, whereas the ligand-binding domains, which are physically coupled to the channels, adopt markedly different conformations. Without an atomic model for the desensitized state, it is not possible to address a central problem in receptor gating: how the resting and desensitized receptor states both display closed ion channels, although they have major differences in the quaternary structure of the ligand-binding domain. Here, by determining the structure of the kai

SUBMITTER: Meyerson JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5161608 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature