Projects in this subgroup combine structure, function, and simulation approaches to characterize various types of pentameric ligand-gated ion channels, particularly their modulation by allosteric drugs such as alcohol, anesthetics, or insecticides.
Contributors:
Erik Lindahl, Professor- Reba Howard, Lab Manager
- Stephanie Heusser, Researcher
- Laura Orellana, Researcher
- Cathrine Bergh, PhD Student
- Marie Lycksell, PhD Student
- Sarah McComas, PhD Student
- Urška Rovšnik, PhD Student
- Yuxuan Zhuang, Master’s Student
Recent publications
- Fourati Z*, Howard RJ*, Heusser SA, Hu H, Ruza RR, Sauguet L, Lindahl E, Delarue M. Structural basis for a bimodal allosteric mechanism of general anesthetic modulation in pentameric ligand-gated ion channels. Cell Reports (2018) 23: 993–1004. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.03.108. *equal contributions
- Howard RJ, Carnevale V, Delemotte L, Hellmich UA, Rothberg BS. Permeating disciplines: Overcoming barriers between molecular simulations and classical structure-function approaches in biological ion transport. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta – Biomembranes 1860: 927 – 942, 2018.
- Heusser SA, Yoluk Ö, Klement G, Riederer EA, Lindahl E, Howard RJ. Functional characterization of neurotransmitter activation and modulation in a nematode model ligand-gated ion channel. Journal of Neurochemistry (2016) 138: 243 – 253. doi: 10.1111/jnc.13644.
- Orellana L, Yoluk O, Carrillo O, Orozco M, Lindahl E. Prediction and validation of protein intermediate states from structurally rich ensembles and coarse-grained simulations. Nature Communications (2016) 7: 12575. doi: 10.1038/ncomms12575.