Alternative splicing in the voltage-gated sodium channel DmNav regulates activation, inactivation, and persistent current.

ABSTRACT: Diversity in neuronal signaling is a product not only of differential gene expression, but also of alternative splicing. However, although recognized, the precise contribution of alternative splicing in ion channel transcripts to channel kinetics remains poorly understood. Invertebrates, with their smaller genomes, offer attractive models to examine the contribution of splicing to neuronal function. In this study we report the sequencing and biophysical characterization of alternative splice variants of the sole voltage-gated Na+ gene (DmNav, paralytic), in late-stage embryos of Drosophila melanogaster. We identify 27 unique splice variants, based on the presence of 15 alternative exons. Heterologous expression, in Xenopus oocytes, shows that alternative exons j, e, and f primarily influen

SUBMITTER: Lin WH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2746785 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature