Interactions of general anesthetics within the pore of an ion channel

Abstract

(1) We review the electrophysiological evidence that the ion channel pore is the site at which general anesthetics bind to inhibit muscle-type acetylcholine receptor channels. (2) The amphipathic character of a pore certainly offers a suitable environment for the binding of amphipathic anesthetics. (3) The absence of direct information about the binding sites of these rather non-specific drugs, forces us to rely on indirect information provided by kinetic experiments. (4) We also discuss the implications of these findings for the interaction of general anesthetics with other ion channels.