Publication Alert: Papke Lab

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This study titled, “Differential Activation and Desensitization States Promoted by Noncanonical α7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Agonists” reports a family of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonists that break the rules about what the structure of a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist should be. It shows that the activity of these noncanonical agonists in the orthosteric binding sites is not dependent on the classical epitopes controlling activation by typical agonists and that through different binding poses, they promote unique conformational changes associated with receptor activation and desensitization.