Research from our collaboration with Dr. Joe Martin’s group here at Rutgers-Camden is now published in PLOS ONE: “Interactions of  L-3,5,3′-triiodothyronine, Allopregnanolone, and Ivermectin with the GABA(A) receptor: Evidence for Overlapping Intersubunit Binding Modes” by T. Westergard, R. Salari, J. V. Martin, and G. Brannigan.

In this paper, we use experimental and computational methods to investigate the likelihood that thyroid hormone T3 and the neurosteroid allopregnanolone bind to intersubunit binding site(s) in the transmembrane domain of the GABA(A) receptor.  We also use results from Molecular Dynamics Simulation to propose an explanation for why mutagenesis studies are so frequently inconclusive for GABA(A) pharmacology.