Abstract
The snail acetylcholine binding protein (AChBP) is homologous to the extracellular domains of the nicotinic ACh receptors. In this issue of Neuron, Celie et al. show how the crystal structures of AChBP in complexes with carbamylcholine and nicotine reveal the basis for agonist recognition by ACh receptors.
MeSH terms
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Acetylcholine / metabolism*
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Animals
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Binding Sites / drug effects
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Binding Sites / physiology
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Carrier Proteins / chemistry*
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Carrier Proteins / metabolism*
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Humans
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Ligands
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Nicotine / chemistry
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Nicotine / metabolism*
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Nicotinic Agonists / metabolism
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Nicotinic Agonists / pharmacology
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Protein Structure, Tertiary / physiology
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Receptors, Nicotinic / metabolism*
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Synaptic Transmission / physiology
Substances
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AChBP protein, Lymnaea
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Carrier Proteins
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Ligands
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Nicotinic Agonists
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Receptors, Nicotinic
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Nicotine
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Acetylcholine