The Tetrameric Structure of a Glutamate Receptor Channel
Christian Rosenmund,
Yael Stern-Bach,
Charles F. Stevens
*
The subunit stoichiometry of several ligand-gated ion channel
receptors is still unknown. A counting method was developed to
determine the number of subunits in one family of brain glutamate receptors. Successful application of this method in an HEK cell line
provides evidence that ionotropic glutamate receptors share a
tetrameric structure with the voltage-gated potassium channels. The
average conductance of these channels depends on how many subunits are
occupied by an agonist.
C. Rosenmund, Workgroup Cellular Neurobiology,
Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen,
Germany.
Y. Stern-Bach, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Dental School,
Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Post Office Box 12272, Jerusalem,
Israel.
C. F. Stevens, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Salk
Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
cfs{at}salk.edu
