Membrane Organization and Dynamics of the Serotonin1A Receptor Monitored Using Fluorescence Microscopic Approaches

Excerpt

The fluorescence-based approaches and their application to the serotonin_1A receptor described in this chapter provide novel insights into the membrane biology of the serotonin_1A receptor, and represent promising strategies to understand membrane protein function under nativelike conditions. In conjunction with recent advances on the role of the membrane lipid environment (especially cholesterol) on the ligand binding, G-protein coupling and membrane organization of the serotonin_1A receptor (reviewed in 6,25,26), the methodologies described here provide significant insight into developing a comprehensive understanding of receptor function. This area of research assumes relevance considering the fact that membrane protein function and its dependence on the lipid environment are found to have enormous implications in health and disease [6].