Neurotransmitter receptor

If a neurotransmitter bumps into its corresponding receptor, they will bind and can trigger other events to occur inside the cell.

This can result in a signal that runs along the axon (see action potential) and is passed along at a synapse to another neuron and possibly on to a neural network.

Rather, they can have a broad number of functions such as modulating the actions of excitatory and inhibitory ion channels or triggering a signalling cascade that releases calcium from stores inside the cell.

Therefore, the postsynaptic neuron, the one receiving the message, clusters NT receptors at this specific place in its membrane.

NT receptors can be inserted into any region of the neuron's membrane such as dendrites, axons, and the cell body.

They are a group of transmembrane ion channels that are opened or closed in response to the binding of a chemical messenger (i.e., a ligand),[7] such as a neurotransmitter.

The ligands that bind and activate these receptors include light-sensitive compounds, odors, pheromones, hormones, and neurotransmitters, and vary in size from small molecules to peptides to large proteins.

G protein-coupled receptors are involved in many diseases, and are also the target of approximately 30% of all modern medicinal drugs.