title: Glutamate-gated chloride channels.
abstract: Glutamate-gated chloride channels (GluCls) are found only in protostome invertebrate phyla but are closely related to mammalian glycine receptors. They have a number of roles in these animals, controlling locomotion and feeding and mediating sensory inputs into behavior. In nematodes and arthropods, they are targeted by the macrocyclic lactone family of anthelmintics and pesticides, making the GluCls of considerable medical and economic importance. Recently, the three-dimensional structure of a GluCl was solved, the first for any eukaryotic ligand-gated anion channel, revealing a macrocyclic lactone-binding site between the channel domains of adjacent subunits. This minireview will highlight some unique features of the GluCls and illustrate their contribution to our knowledge of the entire Cys loop ligand-gated ion channel superfamily.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. adrianw@uga.edu
authors.forename: Adrian J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Wolstenholme
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018118:Chloride Channels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D007313:Insecta / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009348:Nematoda / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D018118:Chloride Channels; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; C109777:glutamate-gated chloride channels