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Natural products as tools for studies of ligand‐gated ion channels
Author(s) -
Strømgaard Kristian
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
the chemical record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.61
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1528-0691
pISSN - 1527-8999
DOI - 10.1002/tcr.20048
Subject(s) - ion channel , ligand gated ion channel , ionotropic effect , ligand (biochemistry) , chemistry , biophysics , light gated ion channel , function (biology) , receptor , neuroscience , biology , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , glutamate receptor
Ligand‐gated ion channels, or ionotropic receptors, constitute a group of membrane‐bound proteins that regulate the flux of ions across the cell membrane. In the brain, ligand‐gated ion channels mediate fast neurotransmission. They are crucial for normal brain function and involved in many diseases in the brain. Historically, natural products have been used extensively in biomedical studies and ultimately as drugs or leads for drug design. In studies of ligand‐gated ion channels, natural products have been essential for the understanding of their structure and function. In the following a short survey of natural products and their use in studies of ligand‐gated ion channels is given. © 2005 The Japan Chemical Journal Forum and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Chem Rec 5: 229–239; 2005: Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ) DOI 10.1002/tcr.20048