Structural Insights into the Role of β3 nAChR Subunit in the Activation of Nicotinic Receptors.

ABSTRACT: The β3 subunit of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) participates in heteropentameric assemblies with some α and other β neuronal subunits forming a plethora of various subtypes, differing in their electrophysiological and pharmacological properties. While β3 has for several years been considered an accessory subunit without direct participation in the formation of functional binding sites, recent electrophysiology data have disputed this notion and indicated the presence of a functional (+) side on the extracellular domain (ECD) of β3. In this study, we present the 2.4 Å resolution crystal structure of the monomeric β3 ECD, which revealed rather distinctive loop C features as compared to those of α nAChR subunits, leading to intramolecular stereochemical hindrance of the binding s

SUBMITTER: Giastas P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9319688 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature