Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Fasoli, Francesca
• Gotti, Cecilia

Titel

Structure of neuronal nicotinic receptors

Ist Teil von

• Current topics in behavioral neurosciences, 2015, Vol.23, p.1

Ort / Verlag

Germany

Erscheinungsjahr

2015

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are a critical component of the brain's cholinergic neurotransmission system that modulates important physiological processes and whose dysfunction has been observed in patients with neurodegenerative diseases and mental illness. nAChRs are a heterogeneous family of receptor subtypes consisting of pentameric combinations of α and β subunits, and are widely expressed throughout the central and peripheral nervous system. nAChR subtypesnAChR subtypes share a common basic structure but their biophysical and pharmacological properties depend on their subunit compositionSubunit composition , which is therefore central to understanding receptor function in the nervous system and discovering new subtype-selective drugs. We briefly review some recent findings concerning the structure and function of nAChRs, particularly the native subtypes.