Molecular Mechanisms of Cyclic Nucleotide-Gated Ion Channel Gating

Cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channels (CNGs) are distributed most widely in the neuronal cell. Great progress has been made in molecular mechanisms of CNG channel gating in the recent years. Results of many experiments have indicated that the stoichiometry and assembly of CNG channels affect their property and gating. Experiments of CNG mutants and analyses of cysteine accessibilities show that cyclic nucleotide-binding domains (CNBD) bind cyclic nucleotides and subsequently conformational changes occurred followed by the concerted or cooperative conformational change of all four subunits during CNG gating. In order to provide theoretical assistances for further investigation on CNG channels, especially regarding the disease pathogenesis of ion channels, this paper reviews the latest progress on mechanisms of CNG channels, functions of subunits, processes of subunit assembly, and conformational changes of subunit regions during gating.