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CNG CHANNELS

Symmetry breaking in photoreceptor cyclic nucleotide-gated channels

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 29, pages 7–9 (2022)Cite this article

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Retinal photoreceptor cyclic nucleotide-gated (CNG) ion channels convert light signals to electrical signals in the eye. Their structures have been solved at ~3 Å resolution by cryo-EM; the asymmetric subunit assembly of heteromeric CNG channels produces a unique ion-permeation pathway with an unusual gating apparatus that indicates distinct subunit contributions for ligand-dependent channel activation.

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Fig. 1: Architecture of the permeation pore of human CNGA1+CNGB1 channel.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks J.C. Eissenberg and E. Di Cera for critically reading of this article.

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  1. Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA

    Gucan Dai

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  1. Gucan Dai
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Correspondence to Gucan Dai.

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Dai, G. Symmetry breaking in photoreceptor cyclic nucleotide-gated channels. Nat Struct Mol Biol 29, 7–9 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-021-00711-5

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