Extended Data Fig. 9: Permeation pathway and subunit interfaces.

a, Cartoon of permeation pathway for conformation A. A single β2-subunit is removed for clarity. Purple spheres indicate pore diameters >5.6 Å; yellow is >2.8 Å and <5.6 Å; red is <2.8 Å. b, Same as a but for conformation B. c, Pore diameters for conformation A (red) and conformation B (black). The zero value along the y axis of the plot is aligned with the α-carbon of the −2′ position of conformation B. d–m, Side view of two adjacent subunits in conformations A (d–h) and B (i–m). The view is from the periphery of the receptor towards the pore axis. Cholesterol at the interface is shown in yellow in d, i and k. Cartoon pentagons (bottom) are coloured to illustrate all subunits composing the displayed interface; subunits not participating in the displayed interface are grey. Principal (+) and complementary (−) sides of the displayed interface are labelled on each pentagon. n, Analysis of the subunit interfaces of both conformations using PDBePISA server⁶⁹.