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Are Voltage Sensors Really Embedded in Muscarinic Receptors?
1The Sackler School of Medicine, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 69978, Israel.
Abstract:
Unexpectedly, the affinity of the seven-transmembrane muscarinic acetylcholine receptors for their agonists is modulated by membrane depolarization. Recent reports attribute this characteristic to an embedded charge movement in the muscarinic receptor, acting as a voltage sensor. However, this explanation is inconsistent with the results of experiments measuring acetylcholine binding to muscarinic receptors in brain synaptoneurosomes. According to these results, the gating of the voltage-dependent sodium channel (VDSC) acts as the voltage sensor, generating activation of Go-proteins in response to membrane depolarization, and this modulates the affinity of muscarinic receptors for their cholinergic agonists.
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