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Perfection of a synaptic receptor: kinetics and energetics of the acetylcholine receptor.

The energetics and kinetics of activation of the acetylcholine receptor are evaluated in the context of optimizing rapid synaptic transmission. Physiological needs are used as the basis for estimating optimal values for the closed-to-open channel equilibrium constants of the liganded and unliganded receptor. An estimate is made of the maximum energy that can be derived from the binding of acetylcholine to a perfectly designed receptor binding site. Application of the principle of detailed balance shows that with only one ligand binding site the receptor will not be able to derive enough energy from acetylcholine binding to drive a sufficiently large change in the channel conformational equilibrium. This then provides a rationale for the existence of a second binding site, rather than the often invoked advantage of cooperativity. With two binding sites there is a considerable excess of binding energy and consequently considerable flexibility in how binding energy can be utilized. It is shown that the receptor must have at least one binding site that binds acetylcholine weakly when the channel is closed. This is essential to rapid response termination. However, making the other binding site bind more tightly can enhance and accelerate the activation of the receptor. To optimize both response activation and termination the best solution is to make the two binding sites different in their binding affinities. This qualitatively reproduces an experimental observation.