Structural and functional studies of inward rectifier Kir7.1 and its regulation by the Melanocortin-4 receptor
Alys Peisley, Ciria C Hernandez, Naima S Dahir, Laura Koepping, Ashleigh Raczkowski, Min Su, Masoud Ghamari-Langroudi, Xinrui Ji, Luis E Gimenez, Roger D Cone · 2026
Read Structural and functional studies of inward rectifier Kir7.1 and its regulation by the Melanocortin-4 receptor by Alys Peisley, Ciria C Hernandez, Naima S Dahir, Laura Koepping, Ashleigh Raczkowski, Min Su, Masoud Ghamari-Langroudi, Xinrui Ji, Luis E Gimenez, Roger D Cone (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13518829.txt.
Description
Alys Peisley and nine colleagues map the structure of Kir7.1 in 2026, a potassium channel tied to inherited eye disease and, unusually, to appetite control in the brain. Faulty Kir7.1 in the retinal pigment layer causes conditions including retinitis pigmentosa and Leber congenital amaurosis. Evidence also links the channel to the melanocortin-4 receptor, a hunger-related receptor in hypothalamic neurons.
Cryo-electron microscopy structures of human Kir7.1 show how the small molecule ML418 blocks the channel. Blocking it in brain slices woke up receptor-bearing neurons, and in living animals the blocker curbed food intake and caused weight loss. Peisley and co-authors also confirm the channel and receptor sit close together on the cell surface.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Alys Peisley, Ciria C Hernandez, Naima S Dahir, Laura Koepping, Ashleigh Raczkowski, Min Su, Masoud Ghamari-Langroudi, Xinrui Ji, Luis E Gimenez, Roger D Cone |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 81 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |