Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Aryal P
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2717173 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Nature neuroscience 20090628 8
Ethanol modifies neural activity in the brain by modulating ion channels. Ethanol activates G protein-gated inwardly rectifying K(+) channels, but the molecular mechanism is not well understood. Here, we used a crystal structure of a mouse inward rectifier containing a bound alcohol and structure-based mutagenesis to probe a putative alcohol-binding pocket located in the cytoplasmic domains of GIRK channels. Substitutions with bulkier side-chains in the alcohol-binding pocket reduced or eliminat ...[more]