Understanding the Conformational Dynamics of a Pentameric Ligand-Gated Ion Channel through Markov State Modeling

Pentameric ligand-gated ion channels (pLGICs) are of great importance as inter-cellular communicators that mediate electrochemical signaling in neurons and other excitable cells. PLGICs are also typical examples of membrane proteins that exhibit allosteric regulation - a process that has not yet been fully understood. The Gloeobacter violaceusligand-gated ion channel (GLIC), derived from bacteria and gated by pH , is one of the easier members of the pLGIC family to study experimentally, which has resulted in a multitude of available experimental structures covering resting, active and intermediate states - including some with mutations and modulators. Yet, studying GLIC may allow structural, dynamical or functional insights to be generalized to other pLGICs