Melatonin Receptors (IMAGE)
Caption
The researchers showed that both melatonin receptors contain narrow channels embedded in the cell's fatty membranes. These channels only allow melatonin, which can exist happily in both water and fat, to pass through, preventing serotonin, which has a similar structure but is only happy in watery environments, from binding to the receptor. They also uncovered how some much larger compounds only target MT1 despite the structural similarities between the two receptors.
Credit
Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
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