*Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Weill Graduate School of Biomedical ... Weill Medical College, Cornell University, New York, NY 10021, U.S.A.. Abstract ... In this review, we summarize recent studies of the agonist-binding site and the ion.
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Biochemical Society Transactions (2004) Volume 32, part 3
Structural elements involved in activation of the γ -aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor T.L. Kash*, J.R. Trudell† and N.L. Harrison‡1 *Graduate Program in Neuroscience, Weill Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Cornell University, New York, NY 10021, U.S.A., †Department of Anesthesia and Beckman Program for Molecular and Genetic Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5117, U.S.A., and ‡Departments of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology, Weill Medical College, Cornell University, New York, NY 10021, U.S.A.
Abstract Ligand-gated ion channels function as rapid signal transducers, converting chemical signals (in the form of neurotransmitters) into electrical signals in the postsynaptic neuron. This is achieved by the recognition of neurotransmitter at its specific-binding sites, which then triggers the opening of an ion channel (‘gating’). For this to occur rapidly (
