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 receptors. If a neurotransmitter bumps into its corresponding receptor, they will bind and can trigger other events to occur inside the cell. Therefore, a membrane receptor is part of the molecular machinery that allows cells to communicate with one another. A neurotransmitter receptor is a class of receptors that specifically binds with neurotransmitters as opposed to other molecules.
In postsynaptic cells, neurotransmitter receptors receive signals that trigger an electrical signal, by regulating the activity of ion channels. The influx of ions through ion channels opened due to the binding of neurotransmitters to specific receptors can change the membrane potential of a neuron. This can result in a signal that runs along the axon (see action potential) and is passed along at a synapse to another neuron and possibly on to a neural network.[1] On presynaptic cells, there are receptors known as autoreceptors that are specific to the neurotransmitters released by that cell, which provide feedback and mediate excessive neurotransmitter release from it.[3]
There are two major types of neurotransmitter receptors: ionotropic and metabotropic. Ionotropic means that ions can pass through the receptor, whereas metabotropic means that a second messenger inside the cell relays the message (i.e. metabotropic receptors do not have channels). There are several kinds of metabotropic receptors, including G protein-coupled receptors.[2][4] Ionotropic receptors are also called ligand-gated ion channels and they can be activated by neurotransmitters (ligands) like glutamate and GABA, which then allow specific ions through the membrane. Sodium ions (that are, for example, allowed passage by the glutamate receptor) excite the post-synaptic cell, while chloride ions (that are, for example, allowed passage by the GABA receptor) inhibit the post-synaptic cell. Inhibition reduces the chance that an action potential will occur, while excitation increases the chance. Conversely, G-protein-coupled receptors are neither excitatory nor inhibitory. Rather, they can have a broad number of functions such as modulating the actions of excitatory and inhibitory ion channels or triggering a signalling cascade that releases calcium from stores inside the cell.[2] Most neurotransmitters receptors are G-protein coupled.[1]
^ abcLevitan, Irwin B.; Leonard K. Kaczmarek (2002). The Neuron (Third pg. 285 ed.). Oxford University Press.
^ abc"Neurological Control - Neurotransmitters". Brain Explorer. 2011-12-20. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
^"Neurotransmitter Receptors, Transporters, & Ion Channels". www.rndsystems.com.
A neurotransmitterreceptor (also known as a neuroreceptor) is a membrane receptor protein that is activated by a neurotransmitter. Chemicals on the outside...
exocytosis. These molecules then bind to neurotransmitterreceptors on the postsynaptic cell. Finally, the neurotransmitters are cleared from the synapse through...
linked to glutamate receptor gene mutations or receptor autoantigen/antibody activity. Glutamate is the most prominent neurotransmitter in the body, and...
connected. List of neurotransmitters Neuromodulator Monoamine neurotransmitter Neuropeptide Neurotransmitterreceptor – membrane receptor that can be activated...
histamine, a neurotransmitter involved in various physiological processes. There are four main types: H1, H2, H3, and H4. H1 receptors are linked to...
Kainate receptors, or kainic acid receptors (KARs), are ionotropic receptors that respond to the neurotransmitter glutamate. They were first identified...
to the binding of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter. Like other transmembrane receptors, acetylcholine receptors are classified according to their "pharmacology...
The GABA receptors are a class of receptors that respond to the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the chief inhibitory compound in the...
noradrenaline), his receptor nomenclature and concept of two different types of detector mechanisms for a single neurotransmitter, remains. In 1954, he...
Muscarinic receptors are used in the following roles: ACh is always used as the neurotransmitter within the autonomic ganglion. Nicotinic receptors on the...
the neurotransmitter is released and diffuses across the synaptic cleft. If the postsynaptic cell (B) is also a neuron, neurotransmitterreceptors generate...
may be hormones, neurotransmitters, cytokines, growth factors, cell adhesion molecules, or nutrients; they react with the receptor to induce changes...
by opening voltage-gated ion channels. A receptor potential can also cause the release of neurotransmitters from one cell that will act on another cell...
Dopamine receptor D2, also known as D2R, is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the DRD2 gene. After work from Paul Greengard's lab had suggested...
drug nemonapride. As with other dopamine receptor subtypes, the D4 receptor is activated by the neurotransmitter dopamine. It is linked to many neurological...
Monoamine neurotransmitters are neurotransmitters and neuromodulators that contain one amino group connected to an aromatic ring by a two-carbon chain...
serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT), a neurotransmitter and hormone and the endogenous ligand of the serotonin receptors. Serotonergic psychedelics such as...
synthesis and release. The H3 receptor has also been shown to presynaptically inhibit the release of a number of other neurotransmitters (i.e. it acts as an inhibitory...
molecules called neurotransmitters are released by the axon terminal of a neuron (the presynaptic neuron), and bind to and react with the receptors on the dendrites...
May 2018. Owens MJ, Morgan WN, Plott SJ, Nemeroff CB (1997). "Neurotransmitterreceptor and transporter binding profile of antidepressants and their metabolites"...
potentials which reduces neurotransmitter release.[citation needed] Thus GABAB receptors are inhibitory receptors. GABAB receptors also reduces the activity...
interactions of neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, neurohormones, neuromodulators, enzymes, second messengers, co-transporters, ion channels, and receptor proteins...
The glycine receptor (abbreviated as GlyR or GLR) is the receptor of the amino acid neurotransmitter glycine. GlyR is an ionotropic receptor that produces...
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