Highly specific alternative splicing of transcripts encoding BK channels in the chicken's cochlea is a minor determinant of the tonotopic gradient.

ABSTRACT: The frequency sensitivity of auditory hair cells in the inner ear varies with their longitudinal position in the sensory epithelium. Among the factors that determine the differential cellular response to sound is the resonance of a hair cell's transmembrane electrical potential, whose frequency correlates with the kinetic properties of the high-conductance Ca(2+)-activated K(+) (BK) channels encoded by a Slo (kcnma1) gene. It has been proposed that the inclusion of specific alternative axons in the Slo transcripts along the cochlea underlies the gradient of BK-channel kinetics. By analyzing the complete sequences of chicken Slo gene (cSlo) cDNAs from the chicken's cochlea, we show that most transcripts lack alternative exons. Transcripts with more than one alternative exon constitute only

SUBMITTER: Miranda-Rottmann S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2897565 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature