Article
Structural and Molecular Modeling Features of P2X Receptors
Registro en:
ALVES, Luiz Anastacio et al. Structural and Molecular Modeling Features of P2X Receptors. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, n.15, p.4531-4549, 2014.
1422-0067
10.3390/ijms15034531
Autor
Alves, Luiz Anastácio
Silva, João Hermínio Martins da
Ferreira, Dinarte Neto Moreira
Fidalgo Neto, Antonio Augusto
Teixeira, Pedro Celso Nogueira
Souza, Cristina Alves Magalhães de
Caffarena, Ernesto Raúl
Freitas, Mônica Santos de
Resumen
Currently, adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) is recognized as the extracellular
messenger that acts through P2 receptors. P2 receptors are divided into two subtypes: P2Y
metabotropic receptors and P2X ionotropic receptors, both of which are found in virtually all
mammalian cell types studied. Due to the difficulty in studying membrane protein structures
by X-ray crystallography or NMR techniques, there is little information about these
structures available in the literature. Two structures of the P2X4 receptor in truncated form
have been solved by crystallography. Molecular modeling has proven to be an excellent tool
for studying ionotropic receptors. Recently, modeling studies carried out on P2X receptors
have advanced our knowledge of the P2X receptor structure-function relationships. This
review presents a brief history of ion channel structural studies and shows how modeling
approaches can be used to address relevant questions about P2X receptors.