title: In pursuit of the high-resolution structure of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.
abstract: The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) has been studied extensively for well over four decades because of its important physiological roles and medical relevance. A large body of data from biochemical and biophysical studies are now available. The structural information, which is needed to integrate existing data to address the mechanism and function of nAChRs, started to emerge in recent years. Structural studies of acetylcholine binding proteins (AChBPs) have greatly facilitated the study of nAChRs. The recently determined crystal structures of the prokaryotic homologues of nAChRs will probably have similar impact over time. However, a direct structural model of nAChRs at high resolution will be important for mechanistic studies and drug development. Here we will review some of the recent efforts in this area and use the high-resolution structure of the extracellular domains of nAChR alpha1 to illustrate the potential insights one may gain at higher resolution.
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Computational Biology, Departments of Biological Sciences and Chemistry, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA. linchen@usc.edu
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006031:Glycosylation; D006801:Humans; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000502:physiology; D009154:Mutation; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D011485:Protein Binding; D017510:Protein Folding; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D011134:Polysaccharides; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic