Oxford University

Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics
Laboratory Journal 2000
Prof. M. S. P. Sansom

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Glutamate Receptors

Ionotropic glutamate receptors (GluRs) are responsible for excitatory synaptic neurotransmission in the vertebrate central nervous system. in the absence of an experimentally determined structure for an intact GluR, modelling and simulation studies are being used to probe possible homologies with K channels.

Indira H. Shrivastava _ Modelling and Simulation of GluR0

The glutamate receptor, GluR0, occurring in Synechocystis, is the first glutamate receptor found in prokaryotes. The transmembrane region of his receptor has a high sequence homology with KcsA while the ligand-binding domain is homologous to eukaryotic glutamate receptors. KcsA has been used as a template structure in developing a homology model for the transmembrane domain of GluR0. Simulations of this model in a lipid bilayer are being employed to test the stability of the model, and to explore its possible functional implications.

Yalini Pathy - Homology Modelling of a Mammalian Glutamate Receptor

Homology modelling and simulation studies are being used to explore possible structures of the transmembrane domain of a mammalian glutamate receptor, namely rat GluR2. Sequence alignment, secondary structure prediction and sequence periodicity analysis have been used to obtain an optimal alignment between the sequences of the transmembrane domains of GluR2, GluR0 and KcsA. This is requires some care, as the percentage identity between these three sequences is rather low. A homology model for GluR2 was then developed with using KcsA as a template. Comparative MD simulations on both the GluR2 and GluR0 (see above) models embedded in solvated octane slab are being used to assess the relative stability of the two model structures.


Previous: Potassium Channels., Next: Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor, Up: Ion Channels, Return to: Contents.

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