, as reconstructed by three-dimensional electron microscopy, had a "mushroom-like" appearance consisting of a large square-shaped head and a small channel domain linked by four thin bridges. The projection image of the "headto-head" assembly comprising two particles confirmed the mushroom-like side view. The "windmill-like" form of IP 3 R1 with Ca 2؉ also contains the four bridges connecting from the IP 3 -binding domain toward the channel domain. These data suggest that the Ca 2؉ -specific conformational change structurally regulates the IP 3 -triggered channel opening within IP 3 R1.Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP 3 R) 1 acts as a highly controlled decoder transducing extracellular stimuli into intracellular calcium (Ca 2ϩ ) signals, a process that plays an integral role in vital morphogenesis and physiological plasticity (1). IP 3 Rs are structurally divided into three regions: 1) a large cytoplasmic region with an IP 3 binding pocket close to the N terminus; 2) a transmembrane region near the C terminus; and 3) a short C-terminal tail (2). The most characterized IP 3 R, type 1 IP 3 R (IP 3 R1), a predominant type in the cerebellar endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and spine apparatus, is a 2749-amino acid polypeptide (2) containing the IP 3 binding core (residues 226 -578) (3, 4), a transmembrane region composed of putative six-spanning domains (residues 2276 -2589) (5, 6). The transmembranous segments are essential for the tetramerization (7, 8) to form a channel domain as in the case of the voltage-, Ca 2ϩ -, and cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel superfamily (9, 10).The IP 3 never fully opened the channel of IP 3 R without Ca 2ϩ . Previous functional analysis indicates that the low Ca 2ϩ level acts as an essential co-agonist for IP 3 -gated Ca 2ϩ release (11)(12)(13)(14). The requirement of the dual ligands is considered to be an important basis of the signaling cross-talk involved in the cell function (15). Thus, it would be useful to understand how the binding of co-agonists structurally opens the channel of IP 3 R. Recently, the x-ray structure of the crystallized IP 3 binding core has revealed the spatial relationship among a specific IP 3 -binding site and two plausible Ca 2ϩ -binding sites (4). The local allosteric coupling of IP 3 -and Ca 2ϩ -binding sites in this domain is thought to be one of the possible elements for the requirement of dual agonists to open the channel. However, additional six Ca 2ϩ -binding sites have been detected by extensive screening of expressed IP 3 R1-fragments outside the IP 3 binding core (16,17) and, based on the primary sequence, a critical residue for the Ca 2ϩ -activated channel opening was located far from the IP 3 binding core (18,19). Furthermore, allosteric sites for regulations were widely distributed outside the IP 3 binding core (20). Thus, it is quite important to visualize the overall behavior of tetrameric IP 3 R to elucidate the mechanism underlying channel gating by IP 3 and Ca 2ϩ . Knowledge of the spatial interrelations and rearrangements of the...