Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors at the single-channel level

Cecilia Bouzat, Steven M. Sine

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

Over the past four decades, the patch clamp technique and nicotinic ACh (nACh) receptors have established an enduring partnership. Like all good partnerships, each partner has proven significant in its own right, while their union has spurred innumerable advances in life science research. A member and prototype of the superfamily of pentameric ligand-gated ion channels, the nACh receptor is a chemo-electric transducer, binding ACh released from nerves and rapidly opening its channel to cation flow to elicit cellular excitation. A subject of a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the patch clamp technique provides unprecedented resolution of currents through single ion channels in their native cellular environments. Here, focusing on muscle and α7 nACh receptors, we describe the extraordinary contribution of the patch clamp technique towards understanding how they activate in response to neurotransmitter, how subtle structural and mechanistic differences among nACh receptor subtypes translate into significant physiological differences, and how nACh receptors are being exploited as therapeutic drug targets. Linked Articles: This article is part of a themed section on Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v175.11/issuetoc/.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1789-1804
Number of pages16
JournalBritish Journal of Pharmacology
Volume175
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2018

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pharmacology

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