Detects the active area of ​​alcohol inside the brain

Everyone of us is no stranger to the effects of drunkenness. But the molecular detail of alcohol on brain activity remains a mystery. A recent study by scientists at the Salk Biological Research Institute has helped to better understand how alcohol alters the behavior of brain cells.


The scientists' findings were published online in Nature Neuroscience, which discovered the region where the action of alcohol is located on an ion channel protein; Research results may lead to the development of new treatments for alcoholism, opium addiction and epilepsy.

Ethanol, the alcohol in beverages, is thought to alter the communication between nerve cells . 'In this area of ​​research, people often care a lot about the question of how alcohol works inside the brain,' said Dr. Paul A. Slesinger, a professor at the Peptide Biological Laboratory at the Salk Institute. research leader, said. 'One of the popular views is that ethanol works by interacting directly with ion channel proteins, but there is no evidence to confirm the location of this activity.'

Slesinger and his team now show that alcohol directly interacts with a specific angle in an ion channel protein.

Previous research by Slesinger and colleagues focused on the central function of these ion channels, also known as GIRK channels. The GIRK channel opens during the period of chemical exchange between neurons and forms short cycles.

New research sheds light on how alcohol changes the way brain cells work. (Photo: iStockphoto / Marcandrea Bragalini)

'When GIRKs react to the beginning of exchange between neurons by opening, potassium ions escape from the neuron, reducing the activity of neurons,' said Prafulla Aryal, one of the authors. assist. Previously, alcohol has been shown to open GIRK channels but scientists have not yet confirmed whether this is a direct effect or this is just a consequence of another molecular change in the cell.

Finding the location of the alcohol binding region is important for the opening of the GIRK channel and can help find new strategies for treating brain-related diseases. Using this protein structure, people can develop an alcohol-based antagonist to treat alcoholism. Or, 'if we find a new drug that fits the alcohol binding region and then activates GIRK channels, this will help reduce neuronal excitability in the brain, and from that may provide a new tool for epilepsy treatment, ' Slesinger said.

Epilepsy is a neurological disease characterized by abnormal electrical activity in episodes. This is the disease that more than 3 million Americans currently have. Current treatments have serious side effects, and people are trying their best to find new treatments around the world.

To better understand how alcohol works, Slesinger and Aryal met with Salk Institute colleagues including Dr. Senyon Choe, Lecturer of Structural Biology Lab, and Dr Dvir Dr. , the researcher belongs to Choe's lab, to determine if the tiny pockets found in the three-dimensional potassium channel structure are, in fact, the active region of the GIRK channels. The Salk Institute researchers note the similarity of the alcohol-binding regions with the alcohols found in two other alcohol-linked proteins, alcohol dehydrogenase, an enzyme that breaks down alcohol inside the body, and a protein in the fruit fly (LUSH).

This study was funded by the National Institute of Alcoholism Research and the .N Foundation. & Frances Berger, and Salk Biological Research Institute.