title: Acetylcholine-binding proteins: functional and structural homologs of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.
abstract: Acetylcholine-binding protein (AChBP) is a water-soluble protein released from molluscan glial cells and modulates ACh-mediated synaptic transmission. Acetylcholine-binding protein (AChBP) is a water-soluble homolog of the ligand-binding domain of nicotinic receptors and other members of the pharmaceutically important family of pentameric ligand-gated ion channels (LGICs), GABAA, GABAC, 5-HT3 serotonin, and glycine receptors. The crystal structure of AChBP from Lymnaea stagnalis has become an established model for the extracellular domain of the pentameric LGICs, and homology models have been generated to analyze receptor-ligand interactions. AChBP has pharmacological properties similar to the homomeric alpha7 subtype of nicotinic ACh receptors (nAChRs), with relatively weak affinity for ACh and a 10-fold higher affinity for nicotine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands. absmit@bio.vu.nl
authors.forename: August B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Smit
authors.forename: Patrick H N
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Celie
authors.forename: Igor E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Kasheverov
authors.forename: Dmitry Y
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Mordvintsev
authors.forename: Pim
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van Nierop
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bertrand
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tsetlin
authors.forename: Titia K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Sixma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D020916:Conotoxins / Q000737:chemistry; D008195:Lymnaea / Q000378:metabolism*; D008978:Mollusk Venoms / Q000737:chemistry; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012908:Snails
chemical_list: C428944:AChBP protein, Lymnaea; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D020916:Conotoxins; D008978:Mollusk Venoms