Beta-structure in the membrane-spanning part of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (or how helical are transmembrane helices?).
The 'four-transmembrane-helix receptors' transmit their signals from the extracellular space to the cytoplasm via an intramembrane domain. In the case of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor this domain comprises an ion channel formed by homologous secondary structure elements in the receptor subunits. It was believed to be exclusively alpha-helical, but recent experimental evidence questions the widely accepted model: beta-strands seem to be part of the membrane-spanning domain.
Hucho
F
F
Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Biochemie, Germany.
Görne-Tschelnokow
U
U
Strecker
A
A
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002462:Cell Membrane; D007473:Ion Channels; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017510:Protein Folding; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000737:chemistry*
D007473:Ion Channels; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic