Understanding the functional dynamics of ligand-gated ion-channels (LGIC's) on the molecular level is the aim of this thesis. Members of the protein family of LGIC's are involved in the fast synaptic signal transmission and thereby play a central role in i ...
The serotonin type 3 receptor (5HT3R) is a homopentameric, cation selective channel that mediates fast excitatory transmission in the nervous system. It is a member of the Cys-loop family of receptors that include the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nACh ...
G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the most abundant class of proteins in the cell body. Such receptors are of major interest as potential therapeutic targets. Downscaling and parallelization of bioanalytics opens novel routes to rapidly screen and id ...
The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) is a ligand-gated ion channel that switches upon activation from a closed state to a full conducting state. We found that the mutation delta S268K, located at 12' position of the second transmembrane domain of t ...
Synaptic plasticity is the ability of the connections between nerve cells, called synapses, to change in strength. The presence of a-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA)-type glutamate receptors (AMPAR) at the synapse controls the str ...
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are heteropentameric ion channels that open upon activation to a single conducting state. The second transmembrane segments of each subunit were identified as channel-forming elements, but their respective contribution in ...
With the reversible sequential (ReSeq) binding assay, we present a novel approach for the ultrasensitive profiling of receptor function in single living cells. This assay is based on the repetitive application of fluorescent ligands that have fast assocn.- ...
The thesis presented here describes studies of ligand binding, function, and arrangement of ligand-gated ion channels in cell membranes. Fluorescence microscopy and the patch clamp technique are used to investigate the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and ...
The subject of this thesis is the study of the structure and function of the human muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), which is a typical member of the large class of ligand-gated ion channels. Appropriate techniques, like site-directed mutage ...
