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Genes expressed in the brain define three distinct neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.
Author(s) -
Nef P.,
Oneyser C.,
Alliod C.,
Couturier S.,
Ballivet M.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
the embo journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 7.484
H-Index - 392
eISSN - 1460-2075
pISSN - 0261-4189
DOI - 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb02852.x
Subject(s) - biology , acetylcholine receptor , nicotinic agonist , neuroscience , receptor , gene , acetylcholine , nicotinic acetylcholine receptor , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , computational biology , pharmacology
Four genes encode the related protein subunits that assemble to form the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) at the motor endplate of vertebrates. We have isolated from the chicken genome four additional members of the same gene family whose protein products, termed alpha 2, alpha 3, alpha 4 and n alpha (non‐alpha) probably define three distinct neuronal nAChR subtypes. The neuronal nAChR genes have identical structures consisting of six protein‐coding exons and specify proteins that are best aligned with the chicken endplate alpha subunit, whose gene we have also characterized. mRNA transcripts encoding alpha 4 and n alpha are abundant in embryonic and in adult avian brain, whereas alpha 2 and alpha 3 transcripts are much scarcer. The same set of neuronal genes probably exists in all vertebrates since their counterparts have also been identified in the rat genome.