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Identification of GABA A Receptor Subunits in Rat Retina: Cloning of the Rat GABA A Receptor ρ 2 ‐Subunit cDNA
Author(s) -
Ogurusu Tarou,
Taira Hideharu,
Shingai Ryuzo
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1046/j.1471-4159.1995.65030964.x
Subject(s) - gabaa receptor , biology , protein subunit , microbiology and biotechnology , bicuculline , complementary dna , retina , gabaa rho receptor , gamma aminobutyric acid receptor subunit alpha 1 , interleukin 12 receptor, beta 1 subunit , receptor , g alpha subunit , genetics , neuroscience , gene
We identified GABA A receptor subunits in rat retina using PCR. The high degree of conservation among previously described members of ligand‐gated anion channels in transmembrane domains was used to design degenerate sense and antisense oligonucleotides. These oligonucleotides were used as primers for PCR, which was applied to the rat retina cDNA. Analysis of clones derived from the PCR amplification identified the GABA A α 1 , β 1 , β 3 , and γ 2 subunits and the glycine α 1 subunit. In addition, two clones closely related to the human GABA A ρ‐subunit class were obtained. Molecular cloning revealed one of them as the rat counterpart of the human ρ 2 subunit. Northern blot analysis demonstrated the expression of mRNAs for ρ subunits in retina. These results further support the hypothesis that bicuculline‐insensitive GABA channels in rat retina are comprised of ρ subunits.