Neurotransmitter-gated ion channels as unconventional allosteric proteins

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0959-440X(94)90218-6Get rights and content

Abstract

Biochemical, mutagenesis and electron microscopy investigations of neurotransmitter receptors linked with ion channels result in a map of the neurotransmitter binding site and the ion channel at the amino acid level. The data are consistent with the view that these quasi-symmetrical hetero-oligomers are allosteric proteins, yet with distinctive features associated with their transmembrane disposition.

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