title: Atomistic insights into human Cys-loop receptors by solution NMR.
abstract: Cys-loop receptors are pentameric ligand-gated ion channels (pLGICs) mediating fast neurotransmission in the central and peripheral nervous systems. They are important targets for many currently used clinical drugs, such as general anesthetics, and for allosteric modulators with potential therapeutic applications. Here, we provide an overview of advances in the use of solution NMR in structural and dynamic characterization of ion channels, particularly human Cys-loop receptors. We present challenges to overcome and realistic solutions for achieving high-resolution structural information for this family of receptors. We discuss how subtle structural differences among homologous channels define unique channel pharmacological properties and advocate the necessity to determine high-resolution structures for individual receptor subtypes. Finally, we describe drug binding to the TMDs of Cys-loop receptors identified by solution NMR and the associated dynamics changes relevant to channel functions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA; Department of Computational & Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: David D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Mowrey
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: Monica N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Kinde
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA; Department of Structural Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA; Department of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA. Electronic address: xuy@anes.upmc.edu.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA; Department of Computational & Systems Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA; Department of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA. Electronic address: tangp@anes.upmc.edu.
authors.forename: Pei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D058466:Cysteine Loop Ligand-Gated Ion Channel Receptors / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data
chemical_list: D058466:Cysteine Loop Ligand-Gated Ion Channel Receptors
keywords: Anesthetic binding; Channel structures; Cys-loop receptors; Glycine receptoers; NMR; nAChRs