Identification of the Initial Steps in Signal Transduction in the ?4?2 Nicotinic Receptor: Insights from Equilibrium and Nonequilibrium Simulations (Structure)

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are targets for the development of novel smoking cessation agents, and for other conditions. A combination of equilibrium and nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations map the nicotine-induced conformational changes and also identify the initial structural steps of interdomain communication in the human ?4?2 receptor, of potentially general importance.