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Figure 1. The seven transmembrane α-helix structure of a G-protein-coupled receptor. A neurotransmitter receptor (also known as a neuroreceptor) is a membrane receptor protein [1] that is activated by a neurotransmitter. [2] Chemicals on the outside of the cell, such as a neurotransmitter, can bump into the cell's membrane, in which there are ...
Glutamate, which is the most abundant neurotransmitter, is an excitatory neurochemical, meaning that its release in the synaptic cleft causes the firing of an action potential. GABA, or Gamma-aminobutyric acid, is an inhibitory neurotransmitter.
An agonist is a chemical capable of binding to a receptor, such as a neurotransmitter receptor, and initiating the same reaction typically produced by the binding of the endogenous substance. [68] An agonist of a neurotransmitter will thus initiate the same receptor response as the transmitter.
Epinephrine, also known as adrenaline, is a monoamine neurotransmitter that plays in fight-or-flight response, increases blood flow to muscles, output of the heart, pupil dilation, and glucose. Serotonin is a monoamine neurotransmitter that plays a regulatory role in mood, sleep, appetite, body temperature regulation, and other processes.
The GABA neurotransmitter mediates the fast synaptic inhibition in the central nervous system. When GABA is released from its pre-synaptic cell, it will bind to a receptor (most likely the GABA A receptor) that causes the post-synaptic cell to hyperpolarize (stay below its action potential threshold). This will counteract the effect of any ...
Once released, a neurotransmitter enters the synapse and encounters receptors. Neurotransmitter receptors can either be ionotropic or g protein coupled. Ionotropic receptors allow for ions to pass through when agonized by a ligand. The main model involves a receptor composed of multiple subunits that allow for coordination of ion preference.
For example, morphine is an agonist of the opioid receptor family. Conversely, antagonists bind to a receptor and elicit no cellular change. [2] Naloxone, an antagonist of the opioid receptors, exerts a biological effect only be interfering with endogenous neurotransmitter (morphine) binding. [2]
The neurotransmitter binds to chemical receptor molecules located in the membrane of another neuron, the postsynaptic neuron, on the opposite side of the synaptic cleft. Chemical synapses are biological junctions through which neurons ' signals can be sent to each other and to non-neuronal cells such as those in muscles or glands .