Publication Date:
1991-08-30
Description:
The neurotransmitter glutamate mediates excitatory synaptic transmission throughout the brain. A family of genes encoding subunits of the non-N-methyl-D-aspartate (non-NMDA) type of glutamate receptor has been cloned. Some combinations of these subunits assemble into receptors with a substantial permeability to calcium, whereas others do not. To investigate the structural features that control ion permeation through these ligand-gated channels, mutant receptor subunits with single-amino acid changes were constructed. Mutation of a certain amino acid that results in a net charge change (from glutamine to arginine or vice versa) alters both the current-voltage relation and the calcium permeability of non-NMDA receptors. A site has thus been identified that regulates the permeation properties of these glutamate receptors.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Hume, R I -- Dingledine, R -- Heinemann, S F -- NS21043/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- NS25782/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- NS28709/NS/NINDS NIH HHS/ -- etc. -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 1991 Aug 30;253(5023):1028-31.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1653450" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Amino Acid Sequence
;
Animals
;
Barium/pharmacology
;
Calcium/*metabolism
;
*Cell Membrane Permeability
;
Cloning, Molecular
;
Female
;
Membrane Potentials/drug effects
;
Molecular Sequence Data
;
Multigene Family
;
Mutagenesis, Site-Directed
;
Oocytes/physiology
;
Receptors, Glutamate
;
Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate/genetics/*physiology
;
Receptors, Neurotransmitter/drug effects/genetics/*physiology
;
Sodium/pharmacology
;
Xenopus
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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