Ligand-gated ion channels
Neuronal nicotinic receptor assembly and expression

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are ligand-gated ion channels, a large family of multimeric membrane-bound proteins that open an ionic channel when the appropriate agonist binds.

Multiple subunits for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors exist in neurons, and different combinations of subunits can assemble into many different functional receptor subtypes.

A major thrust of my laboratory is to determine the composition and function of neuronal nicotinic receptor subtypes and what regulates their expression in neuronal tissues.

The alpha7 nicotinic receptor protein is heterologously expressed in almost all cell types in culture but only folds and forms a functional receptor in very few.  Why is that?

We are investigating the role of cell-line dependent factors such as RIC-3 and NACHO on alpha7 receptor assembly and expression.