Answer

Ligand-Gated Ion Channel Gatekeeper

            Ligand- gated ion channels refer to essential membrane protein that comprises of a pore that permits regulated movement of ions across plasma membrane (Stahl & Stahl, 2013). This movement of ion is inactive and caused by the electrochemical movement of permeant ions. The channels, according to Auerbach (2013), are gated by binding of the neurotransmitter to orthostatic area that elicits a conformational change that consequently leads to the conducting state.  These ions according open through a neurotransmitter and play the role of a gatekeeper. Ligand gated ion channels are collections of oligomeric proteins responsible for changing a chemical signal to an influx of ion through the post synaptic membrane. They also carry out critical brain roles such as memory, learning and attention (Li, Wong, & Liu, 2014). Similarly, they play major roles of regulating sodium, calcium, potassium and chloride in psychopharmacology. They are also considered a channel or receptor site. Reports indicate that ligand gated ion channels can bind psychotropic drugs and lower or increase the chemical effectiveness of the drug (Stahl & Stahl, 2013). In any chain of structurally linked agonists, a strong relationship is low affinity and high energy affinity binding. The implication of the above statement is that the initial stage of gating is the formation of low affinity complex (Auerbach, 2013). Moreover, one must understand specific drugs that have instant effect on the stated receptor sites as this will make it easy for easy prescription and doing of insomnia and anxiety medication.

Test Questions

 What are the ways through which a ligand gated ion channel open?

What are the functions of a ligand gated ion on brain?