Week 2 6630 responses | Nursing homework help
- Compare and contrast the actions of G-coupled proteins and ion gated channels.
G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute a large family of receptors on the cellular plasma membranes that utilize a G protein to transmit signals inside the cell. Disorders in G-protein coupled receptors may result in diseases as they serve multiple functions within the body. Different responses are elicited by the G-protein coupled receptors following the interaction of G-protein subunits with other proteins within the cell. The subunits (α subunit, and another made up of the β and γ subunits) are produced from the division of G-protein following the binding with guanosine triphosphate. The interaction of these subunits with other proteins triggers diverse signaling pathways within the cell (Seyedabadi, Ghahremani, & Albert, 2019). Ion channels are proteins that enable the flow of specific ions into and out of the cell. There are three types of gated ion channels; mechanically-gated ion channels, voltage-gated ion channels, and ligand-gated ion channels. Ligand-gated ion channels are ionotropic receptors that close or open in response to ligand binding. Voltage-gated ion channels open or close in response to changes in the membrane potentials. Membrane proteins activated by a GPCR can interact with ligand-gated ion channels to prompt their opening or closing (Alexander et al., 2019).