Stoichiometry of the human glycine receptor revealed by direct subunit counting

  • J Neurosci. 2012 Sep 12;32(37):12915-20. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2050-12.2012.
Nela Durisic  1 ,  Antoine G Godin ,  Claudia M Wever ,  Colin D Heyes ,  Melike Lakadamyali ,  Joseph A Dent
Affiliations
  • 1. Institut de Ciències Fotòniques, 08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Québec, Québec, G1J 2G3 Canada.
PMID: 22973015 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2050-12.2012
Abstract

The subunit stoichiometry of heteromeric glycine-gated channels determines fundamental properties of these key inhibitory neurotransmitter receptors; however, the ratio of α1- to β-subunits per receptor remains controversial. We used single-molecule imaging and stepwise photobleaching in Xenopus oocytes to directly determine the subunit stoichiometry of a glycine receptor to be 3α1:2β. This approach allowed us to determine the receptor stoichiometry in mixed populations consisting of both heteromeric and homomeric channels, additionally revealing the quantitative proportions for the two populations.