Chinese scholar Neuron published a paper: The gating mechanism of human NMDA receptors and new small molecule binding sites

As an important class of excitatory ionotropic glutamate receptors, NMDA receptors play an important role in the development and formation of the nervous system and synaptic plasticity

In this study, a series of high-resolution GluN1-GluN2A NMDA receptor structures under different physiological conditions were analyzed by cryo-electron microscopy (below)

Figure 1 | Cryo-electron microscopy analysis of human GluN1-GluN2A NMDA receptorsunder different conditions

At the same time, the researchers used high-affinity GluN2A subunit competitive inhibitor CPP and GluN1 subunit competitive inhibitor CGP-78608 to simulate the state of receptor inhibition shut down

Finally, the researchers discovered a new small molecule binding site on the NMDA receptor for the first time

Figure 2 | GluN1-GluN2A NMDA receptor gating mechanism 

This work was completed by Wang Han, a PhD student in the Synaptic Protein Structure and Function Group of the Center for Excellence in Brain Intelligence, Chinese Academy of Sciences, under the guidance of researcher Zhu Shujia.