Ligand gated receptor interactions: A key to the power of neuronal networks

• Published in: Biochemical pharmacology Vol. 190; p. 114653
• Main Authors: Neff, R., Kambara, K., Bertrand, D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01-08-2021
• Subjects: Excitation; Inhibition; Interaction; Ligand gated receptors; Modulation; Signal processing; Signal processing; Ligand gated receptors; Excitation; Inhibition; Interaction; Modulation
• ISSN: 0006-2952; 1873-2968
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2021.114653

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The discovery of the chemical synapse was a seminal finding in Neurobiology but the large body of microscopic interactions involved in synaptic transmission could hardly have been foreseen at the time of these first discoveries. Characterization of the molecular players at work at synapses and the increased granularity at which we can now analyze electrical and chemical signal processing that occur in even the simplest neuronal system are shining a new light on receptor interactions. The aim of this review is to discuss the complexity of some representative interactions between excitatory and inhibitory ligand-gated ion channels and/or G protein coupled receptors, as well as other key machinery that can impact neurotransmission and to explain how such mechanisms can be an important determinant of nervous system function.