Theoretical Investigation of Kainate Receptor GluK2 and Channelrhodopsin-2: Structure and Mechanism

This work focuses on the structures and mechanisms of functions of two different proteins: kainate receptor GluK2 and channelrhodopsin-2. They are able to activate neuron cells or transfer signals upon illumination, and thus, control and monitor neuron cell activities in living tissues. This technique is called optogenetics. The structure-function relationships of the proteins were investigated with multi-scale techniques, combining classic mechanical (MM) and quantum mechanical (QM) methods.