The function of G alpha-o in the Central Nervous System. Upon ligand binding, a membrane-bound receptor induces a conformational change that results in the activation of the G protein complex. G alpha breaks away from G beta/gamma and exchanges GDP by GTP. G alpha and G beta/gamma then active downstream signaling cascades. In the case of G alpha-o, ion channels in the brain are activated or inhibited directly.
Ingo Helbig
Child Neurology Fellow and epilepsy genetics researcher at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), USA and Department of Neuropediatrics, Kiel, Germany