title: Structure and gating of the glutamate receptor ion channel.
abstract: Ionotropic glutamate receptors are ligand-gated ion channels that mediate rapid information transfer at most excitatory synapses in the brain. Crystal structures are now available for the ligand-binding domain, but the structure of the ion channel itself remains unknown. The core of the ion channel shares structural features with an inverted K(+) channel. In detail, however, differences are emerging. Most notable in the glutamate receptor ion channel are distinct structural and functional properties of a major pore-lining domain, the requirement of an additional transmembrane segment (M4), and twofold rather than fourfold symmetry. Together with ligand-binding domain structures and kinetic experiments, these findings have started to define the basic principles of channel gating in glutamate receptors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5230, USA. lwollmuth@notes1.cc.sunysb.edu
authors.forename: Lonnie P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Wollmuth
authors.forename: Alexander I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Sobolevsky
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D006801:Humans; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000502:physiology*; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000737:chemistry; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary / Q000502:physiology; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D007473:Ion Channels; D015221:Potassium Channels; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate