Olga Ostrovskaya, Keqiang Xie ... Kirill A Martemyanov
A critical regulator of inhibitory neurotransmitter signaling in the hippocampus has been identified in experiments on mice and been shown to play essential role in synaptic plasticity and memory.
The sodium leak NALCN channel functions as a core effector of GABA-B and D2 receptors that is used along with GIRK channels to regulate action potential firing in dopamine neurons.
Weiwei Wang, Kouki K Touhara ... Roderick MacKinnon
Determining how GIRK2 activity depends on the concentration of Gβγ subunits in lipid membranes at different Na+ concentrations has allowed the Gβγ concentration generated during GABAB activation in neurons to be estimated.
The GIRK1 subunit contains a defective Na+-binding site but behaves as if it is permanently bound to a sodium ion, and therefore increases the affinity of Gβγ to GIRK1/4 hetero-tetrameric channels in lipid membranes.
Weiwei Wang, Matthew R Whorton, Roderick MacKinnon
The G protein subunits Gβγ and the signaling lipid PIP2 are simultaneously needed to activate the potassium ion channel GIRK2 to control the voltage across a lipid bilayer, while sodium ions modulate these molecules' effects.
Stephanie C Gantz, Brooks G Robinson ... Kim A Neve
The loss of calcium-dependent D2 autoreceptor desensitization caused by prior in vivo cocaine exposure may be conferred by an unexpected role of the D2L splice variant as an autoreceptor.