Definition
Ionotropic receptors are an ion channel that opens upon binding of ligand molecules such as neurotransmitters. In addition, receptors may transition into desensitized, nonconducting states. These state transitions can be described with kinetic models, which replicate the time course of the resulting gating and corresponding conductance changes. Such models are particularly useful to simulate the postsynaptic conductance caused by neurotransmitter release during synaptic transmission.
Detailed Description
The temporal dynamics of synaptic transmission strongly depends on the kinetics of postsynaptic neurotransmitter receptors. Binding of transmitter molecules to ionotropic receptors causes a conformational change of the protein that opens an ion channel, which in turn gives rise to a membrane conductance change (Hille 2001). The observation of discrete open and closed states in single-channel recordings has supported the notion that a receptor protein functions by traversing...
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Hennig, M.H. (2014). Ionotropic Receptors Dynamics, Conductance Models. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_349-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_349-1
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